ideas on cover for run

[junior67]

my run is 26x8. 8x8 of it is under the coop. then I have an 8x8 section that is covered. then the other 10x8 is just HWC covered and flat. This is my 2nd year with it but was hoping to figure out a cheap and quick way that I could cover it for the winter. I am in MA so we can get a LOT of snow....... My girls (and boy) HATE the snow and refuse to walk in it. I don't have much time or extra $ to build a roof onto it this year. Can anyone think of a way that I can do a cover fairly quick and VERY inexpensive. the frame on the outside is 2x4's and very sturdy but I only have 2x2's across the top holding the HWC up which works fine in the snow as it drips through or we can clear it off so held up fine in a blizzard last year but not sure it would hold up if I just put a tarp over it and the snow was on that as nothing would drip through.

 

[azygous]

Do you have a metal recycling place at your local landfill? Sometimes you can find old used aluminum or steel corrugated roofing panels that you can purchase very cheaply. Your 2x2 supports would be adequate. You can quickly install them with roofing panel hex screws you can get from any building supply or hardware store. These have rubber washers that prevent the roof leaking around the screw shafts.

Anything less will collapse under a snow load.

 

[junior67]

Do you have a metal recycling place at your local landfill? Sometimes you can find old used aluminum or steel corrugated roofing panels that you can purchase very cheaply. Your 2x2 supports would be adequate. You can quickly install them with roofing panel hex screws you can get from any building supply or hardware store. These have rubber washers that prevent the roof leaking around the screw shafts.

Anything less will collapse under a snow load.

I don't think we do....... wouldn't that collapse where it is flat? That is the biggest thing I am worried about. I had thought of plywood but there is no center support beam (running the long way on the top of the run) on it and nothing to attach one too. Can't think of a cheap way to make a lean to roof that snow may slide off..... Maybe just some 2x4's on one side to build it up?

 

[aart]

wouldn't that collapse where it is flat? That is the biggest thing I am worried about. I had thought of plywood but there is no center support beam (running the long way on the top of the run) on it and nothing to attach one too.

It's good thing to worry about, even just the HC will hold enough snow to make collapsing a reality.
Easy, quick, and inexpensive usually don't go together.
Post some pics of the run for better suggestions.

You could always put in temporary supports. I just went out yesterday and installed mine.
A 2x2cut to a length that just wedges between run roof mesh and the ground at a particularly weak spot. We got 3" of wet snow last night that stuck to the 2x4 welded wire mesh.

 

[Iluveggers]

Could you make one side 1-2 ft higher than the other & then add corrugated roofing? The snow would slide off the low side or could be pulled down with a broom. Thinking add a few more pieces of wood to one side to extend it. You could still leave the hw cloth where it is since it would secure it.

 

[junior67]

It's good thing to worry about, even just the HC will hold enough snow to make collapsing a reality.
Easy, quick, and inexpensive usually don't go together.
Post some pics of the run for better suggestions.

You could always put in temporary supports. I just went out yesterday and installed mine.
A 2x2cut to a length that just wedges between run roof mesh and the ground at a particularly weak spot. We got 3" of wet snow last night that stuck to the 2x4 welded wire mesh.

I will grab some pictures. We had a blizzard last year and it held up great. We did clear off the HWC once we could get to it but no bowing or anything else.

And doesn't have to be extremely cheap/easy. But I didn't want to have to build a peak, plywood it, shingle it etc. that it ended up being $200. LOL And hopefully something that only takes an hour or two and not 5-8+ hrs. It is dark here at 4:30 and my husband doesn't get home till 8:30 or so and we are in the midst of cheer comps so not really home on weekends.

 

[junior67]

Could you make one side 1-2 ft higher than the other & then add corrugated roofing? The snow would slide off the low side or could be pulled down with a broom. Thinking add a few more pieces of wood to one side to extend it. You could still leave the hw cloth where it is since it would secure it.

I was thinking about this but wasn't sure if it would need the supports under it (purlins and the 2x4's etc) which would then get into longer than what we have right now. I should have tried to talk my husband into it during the summer, but was trying to talk him into letting me expand the run at that time so didn't want to try for both. haahaa. and if I expanded it the new section would have been covered as well so would have given them more cover in the snow.......

 

[junior67]

It's good thing to worry about, even just the HC will hold enough snow to make collapsing a reality.
Easy, quick, and inexpensive usually don't go together.
Post some pics of the run for better suggestions.

You could always put in temporary supports. I just went out yesterday and installed mine.
A 2x2cut to a length that just wedges between run roof mesh and the ground at a particularly weak spot. We got 3" of wet snow last night that stuck to the 2x4 welded wire mesh.

These pictures are from last year when we built it. The peak at the covered roof part above the HWC roof is also just HWC. I think I am going to put a tarp to block that so snow doesn't blow in the covered part from that section. Added a couple of the coop right after the blizzard.

 

[azygous]

You remind me of myself when I was starting out with just five chickens and a run made from steel hog panels. I placed hog panels over the top with chicken wire over that to keep predators out. Very slap-dash and rudimentary.

Then the winds came. And the rain. And the snow, and I was trying to fix issues on the fly, or more correctly, being blown away by 50mph winds. Try rescuing a plastic sheeting flapping like a sail in that degree of wind. Ain't the least bit enjoyable.

So, I added fiberglass corrugated panels over the top instead of plastic sheeting. Since the pitch was flat like your run, the snow load wouldn't shed and the roof leaked, too. I added vertical supports to shore up the roof to keep it from collapsing onto my chickens and killing them. This wasn't anything close to being safe.

Finally, I said enough. I hired a carpenter to work with me to build a new run. The proper way. I scavenged materials both free and used and new, but the run was built properly. It's been a joy ever since.

I am saying that short cuts never work. Cheapness at the expense of sturdiness won't work. It's wasted effort and will need tearing down and doing over. Unless you plan on chicken keeping being a short term hobby and then moving on to another fun hobby, do this right.

There are only a few points on your roof supports where the fasteners need removing so you can shim one end creating a pitch so your snow and rain will shed. DO IT!! Then bite the bullet and spend the money on some roofing panels that will go up in just an hour or two and will make a proper roof for your run that won't collapse or leak. And it's done. You won't have to do it all over again at some point, which usually comes at a time when you have the least amount of time to get it done.

 

[aart]

We had a blizzard last year and it held up great.

Then adding some light weight plastic or metal roofing should not be an issue.