How important is having a top on the run?

[max13077]

I’ve been looking around and I see some people have them, some people don’t. Are they more to prevent the chickens from getting out, or to protect them from predators? There are hawks around my house. Should I have one because of them? Will the chickens fly out? I live close to a fairly busy road.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Mine was covered to prevent them from being attacked by hawks or other predators which might climb in. I am building a new coop now so The run is down but I do suggest that if its not covered you should put a place for them to hide to get away from danger

Edited: typo

 

[SeaChick]

You will undoubtedly lose some to the local hawks if you don't cover your run. Do a search on this forum for "hawks" and you will find LOTS of casualties, sadly. I had a juvenile red-tail dive on our nearly-grown pullets last fall when they were out in the yard. Yikes!
Stacey

 

[kimberrrr]

Hi, I'm still relatively new to chickens, but I also have a few hawks which circle my yard occasionally. Nope, every day. I have a netting over mine just in case. The reason I feel it is important is because of the hawks. Eagles soar as do hawks, but hawks can also hover. It seems to me that one could hover over my run, so yes, I have a netting over my run. Of course I allow my hens to roam the yard while I'm out there. The hawks have never dropped down while I am in the yard.

Just my thought.

Kimber

 

[eggchicken master]

Quote:

 

[eggchicken master]

it completly depends on what your using them for, and simply how much they are worth.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Mine is covered to keep them in and predators out!

 

[frugalhsmom]

We don't have our run covered, but we have several areas where the birds can "hide" when a hawk decides to swoop down and investigate. I have used pallets propped up with concrete blocks and tarps suspended about 2 feet from the ground (at a slant for water drainage). Both seem to work well. The coop is sealed tight at night, so I haven't had predator issues but I do have to let them out fairly early in the morning or the girls get mad at me!

We also have a very good guard doggie who chases off any potential harm-doers.

 

[Marlinchaser]

Quote:
It all depends on how big your run is,how much Cover area you have for birds to get out of harms way. How bad is the hawk problem in your area?
I freerange mine cant cover 4 acres with netting and have no losses from the air. If it makes you feel better that there will be less chance of preditor loss by putting up netting then put it up but it is not a necessity.

 

[max13077]

Probably 2/3 of it will be under a big spruce tree. Would that make a difference?