How to convert metal frame run to open-air coop?

[GCrumb]

Construction (How the heck should I do this??)
Trying to keep the build cheap, so only using lumber where necessary. Note, I'm assuming the east-west orientation for the run.

Attach hardware cloth* to entire frame with metal zipties, metal conduit strapping, and plastic UV-rated zipties.

*Will 4' hardware cloth be tall enough, or should I use 5'? The run walls are 44" high, so 48" sounds like a tight fit on the rounded frame.

Door might need a bit of thin wood to close gaps.

Not exactly sure how to do the roof hardware cloth. Run along the 20' length...is it enough to overlap the sheets and stitch together with wire and zipties, or should I add a thin strip of wood?

I suppose some thin strips of wood will be necessary anyways, for screwing in the corrugated roofing panels?

Can the cheapo metal tubing handle the weight of hardware cloth + several plastic roofing panels? Will it need extra bracing? If so, how?

Attach hardware cloth sheets to each other with J-clips. Attach them to other meshes the same way. Stronger and requires no/little overlap waste.

I have two of those cheap-o metal runs. Along the bottom I have put cage-mesh. Some of it is 1"x1" and some is 1/2" x 1". Above that I used the cheap chicken wire that came with the runs.

They're peak-roofed ones, 10' x 20', and I have them set up side by side, ten feet apart, with lengths of galvanized EMT conduit clamped in place to make more metal frame. The peak-to-peak lengths sag in the middle so there's a post there. This makes a run 30'x20' with two gates and some annoying bars that you have to duck under while walking around in there, but which chickens like to perch on and can be used to support wooden perches or hang feeders.

Anyway, I detect no issues with the frames carrying this weight of EMT conduit and wire and hanging feeders. I wish I had used galvanized chain-link-fence top-rails instead of EMT now, to eliminate the need for the center post, and think it would bear that fine, even if I should splurge on skinning the whole thing with cage-mesh.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Another point, put the coop facing into rising sun but in deciduous tree shade, it will warm up your coop in the fall/winter and the shade will keep it cool in the summer heat.

@aart has done some great builds too, tagging her here

 

[breegull]

Attach hardware cloth sheets to each other with J-clips. Attach them to other meshes the same way. Stronger and requires no/little overlap waste.

I have two of those cheap-o metal runs. Along the bottom I have put cage-mesh. Some of it is 1"x1" and some is 1/2" x 1". Above that I used the cheap chicken wire that came with the runs.

They're peak-roofed ones, 10' x 20', and I have them set up side by side, ten feet apart, with lengths of galvanized EMT conduit clamped in place to make more metal frame. The peak-to-peak lengths sag in the middle so there's a post there. This makes a run 30'x20' with two gates and some annoying bars that you have to duck under while walking around in there, but which chickens like to perch on and can be used to support wooden perches or hang feeders.

Anyway, I detect no issues with the frames carrying this weight of EMT conduit and wire and hanging feeders. I wish I had used galvanized chain-link-fence top-rails instead of EMT now, to eliminate the need for the center post, and think it would bear that fine, even if I should splurge on skinning the whole thing with cage-mesh.

Using J-clips on hardware cloth is such a good idea that it almost seems obvious in hindsight. Thanks!

And your setup is also very clever, turning 2 10x20s into a 30x20. Good to know that yours seems to be handling extra weight with no issues.

I do plan on wrapping the whole thing (anything not covered by plywood) in hardware cloth. The kit's crappy chicken wire would still be put to good use stapled onto the fence in the rest of the yard, to keep chickens and my elderly small dog in.

 

[Sally PB]

The metal frame for my original run is repurposed from an unused greenhouse. The extension was probably for a tent of some kind, like what people use for yard parties or art fair booths.

I have polycarbonate sheets for the roof on the origianl part. On the extension, I have chicken wire with a tarp over it for the roof. The tarp is the heavy duty black/silver one that TSC sells, tied down with zip ties. It's held up very well to two Michigan winters. I use a push broom to pull off the snow. We get heavy wet snow here in Michigan.

 

[Sally PB]

totally support the deep litter method, using large-flake pine shavings. Nesting boxes should be lined with sweet hay. Do not put the pine shavings in nesting boxes, there needs to be a different texture material in those.

Really curious... what is the reason for this?

 

[First time Chick mom]

Howdy neighbor, we are south of Baltimore. I just started this spring with chicks. I do applaud your research before diving in, and speaking to experience people on this forum is an excellent way to fine tune what you have discovered.
I can tell you that building the coop and run is pricy. Two points I can honestly say is a coop is a must have in our zone, with good ventilation. And buried hard cloth around the run. I live close to the water and mice and rats (never saw a rat until I had a chicken coop) tunnel under the sandy soil, so putting two feet of hard cloth with 12" pavers all around the run did absolutely nothing to stop them getting in. We have cameras in both run and coop. We had to go back and dig a two foot trench around the entire run and burry hard cloth, have not had a problem since.
We also got the 1/3" hard cloth to keep out snakes. We built the run 15' x 10' , 7.5' high covered roof with an 8' x 4' coop for six pullets. My coop is inside the run, 3 feet off the ground. We have perches all throughout the run and logs and a big branch perch under the coop (ladies lounge, LOL). I was assured this is plenty of space for our small flock, well in Oct we are extending out 4 feet, it just doesn't seem big enough.
We also want to use the deep litter method and so far, I have tried experimented with hay, pine savings and hemp. In the coop, I love hemp, but I don't put food or water in the coop, so I have to rake the top to get the poop to drop to the bottom, hemp seems to control odor much better. I like both short cut straw and pine shavings for the run. It gets scratched so much that both seem to disintegrate fairly well, and I don't have any problems with smell. I just purchase nesting pads from Amazon for the boxes and they seem to work well, but I only have two pullets that just started laying, so...
I wish you much success with your plans! I hope this helped some. I am a novice on chickens, just keep that in mind. LOL

 

[breegull]

The metal frame for my original run is repurposed from an unused greenhouse. The extension was probably for a tent of some kind, like what people use for yard parties or art fair booths.

I have polycarbonate sheets for the roof on the origianl part. On the extension, I have chicken wire with a tarp over it for the roof. The tarp is the heavy duty black/silver one that TSC sells, tied down with zip ties. It's held up very well to two Michigan winters. I use a push broom to pull off the snow. We get heavy wet snow here in Michigan.

Neat, do you have a coop/run thread? I can't find it on your profile but I probably just didn't look back far enough.

Really curious... what is the reason for this?

I believe the idea is to help them differentiate between what they poop on and scratch around in, vs. what they lay in and don't disturb too much. (I've never tested the theory, since it seems way easier to just use a second material than to deal with wrecked, poopy nests.)

 

[breegull]

And buried hard cloth around the run. I live close to the water and mice and rats (never saw a rat until I had a chicken coop) tunnel under the sandy soil, so putting two feet of hard cloth with 12" pavers all around the run did absolutely nothing to stop them getting in. We have cameras in both run and coop. We had to go back and dig a two foot trench around the entire run and burry hard cloth, have not had a problem since.

Those are some industrious rats! Good to know that an apron may not be as effective as buried HC.

Although I also know from experience that putting pavers on top of the HC actually reduces the effective range of the HC by a foot, so you'd need 3-4' of HC skirt instead of 2-3'. Rats instinctually start digging at the edge of a solid object like a rock or paver, rather than at the edge of the fence they can see through. I have pet dwarf rats in a large cage with about a foot of bioactive soil for them to dig in, and if you put a flat object on the surface of the soil they will ALWAYS start a tunnel from the edge of it.

I definitely want to exclude rodents from the chicken run right from the start. When I moved into a house that already had chickens in Portland, OR, the rats were already well established throughout the yard, garage, and neighborhood because everyone had backyard chickens with unsecured feeders/runs. The rats were so comfortable coming out in broad daylight, and had such healthy, shiny coats (from a great diet of organic chicken feed and veggie scraps) that visitors always thought they were squirrels. Definitely NOT doing that again...it was so awful lol.

 

[First time Chick mom]

Although I also know from experience that putting pavers on top of the HC actually reduces the effective range of the HC by a foot, so you'd need 3-4' of HC skirt instead of 2-3'.

I did not know that (I will keep that in mind for the expansion). My husband stuck a hose in the hole from the run and traced it to the bottom of a slop about 5 feet from the run, he was trying to flush them out with water. My neighbor asked if we were installing a primitive sprinkler system. LOL I have decided to put a gate between the expansion and run, so I can lock it up at night. My dogs have calmed down with the chickens, but not enough for me to not have them protected behind hard cloth, but it will not be double skirted like the run. Thank you for the information!

 

[Sally PB]

Neat, do you have a coop/run thread? I can't find it on your profile but I probably just didn't look back far enough.

Here are some pictures.
This is the original part of the run. I used pieces of wood from a pallet to make the purlins to screw the polycarbonate to. They're attached to the metal frame with zipties. Half of my run is held together with zipties. The polycarbonate is 83% transmission, which adds lots of light, but cuts most of the heat. It wasn't cheap; about $55 for a 4x8 sheet. It has handled the sunshine/UV for two years with NO sign of getting brittle.

View from the outside, showing the expansion. No, the rooflines don't match, which bugs hubby, but not me or the chickens. (Both metal frames were free. For free, I can look at mismatched rooflines!) I had the blue tarp on in the summer, and it was leaking by September, so I replaced it with a heavy duty one. The run is under trees, so it is DARK and gloomy under there in the winter. I string some exterior white Christmas lights about Thanksgiving to brighten it up. They're only on during the day, and I don't intend for it to keep the ladies laying over winter.

The chicken wire over the roof (under the tarp) spans the gaps and supports the tarp and any snow. I can reach the peaks easily with a pushbroom to pull the snow off. There's enough slope that it sheds the rain well.

For security/wall fencing, I have 2x3 welded wire fence covered with 1/2" hardware cloth. (Attached with zipties.) I had about 18-24" of hardware cloth on the ground as an apron. This spring, I added on with some 2x3 fencing and pieces of hardware cloth, and the apron is over 2' in most places now. So far, nothing has gotten in in 3+ years.