Is a run necessary?

[sojeo]

I am free ranging my chickens, but already thinking ahead to wintertime. My current question is (of about a hundred at this point so bear with me, lol!) do I need a run to give them outdoor shelter during the bad weather? If I'm free ranging them, could I just build some kind of shelter for them to go to and then skip the chicken wire fencing? Hope that this isn't a stupid question, I was searching the posts, but couldn't find this particular question.

 

[Judy]

Free ranging by definition means no run. If they are truly free range, shelter can be all sorts of things, under a trailer or shed, under bushes and trees, some sort of shelter that you build, even a tarp hung over something.

Chicken wire keeps chickens in or out. It will not stop a predator. I use it to fence my garden from the chickens. If you want something predator proof, don't waste money on chicken wire.

Where is Scotsburn? What is your climate? If you have snow, they will be much more likely to go out in winter if they have a place protected from heavy snowfall.

 

[CrazyChickMom]

I put my chickens in their pen when I am going to be gone all day. I don't like the idea of leaving them run free while I am gone for 10 hours. It doesn't happen often but when it does the penned area comes in handy.

 

[Sillystunt]

Quote:
so they are in a coop for 10 hours, Sometimes? umm yeah put a run! That way they can go outside and chill when your gone. Doesn't have to be huge just a small area to get some sunshine. Probally good to get that weld wire. we have it, Strong but i still worry

 

[CrazyChickMom]

Not a "coop" but a pen...as in "penned in area". If you want to call it a run...call it a run. I would never leave my chickens in a coop for 10 hours.

 

[sojeo]

I'm in Nova Scotia, Can on the East coast. It gets pretty cold here in the wintertime, down to -30 sometimes and tons of snow. I would like the chickens to be able to go outside as long as possible before the really bad weather sets in. For some reason I was thinking that I would need a run for winter, but I guess I probably do not need to waste my time building one. As long as they have somewhere to get out of the wind, will that be ok? There is not much shelter here once it snows, right now they hang out under our barn a lot, but the snow will be several feet deep and unless they can dig, they won't be going there.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
There are a lot of folks on here who live in Canada and Alaska. They will need a lot more sheltered space than they do here, of course. Patandchickens does fine with chickens in Canada. I would PM her if I were you. She provides a lot of help here.

I made a vacation trip to Nova Scotia some years ago. Amazing and beautiful place. And the food, well.... wow.

 

[sojeo]

Thanks so much ddawn, I will contact patandchickens by pm. Yes, I just love it where I live. We are in a very rural area of NS and we absolutely adore our old farm property with its many beds of perrenials, old maple trees that line the driveway, no neighbors visible, and surrounded by farmer's fields on 2 sides. Sometimes the winter does become a bit of an annoyance, hopefully won't be dangerous for my birds as long as I'm sensible and well informed. As to food, I love to eat and yes, there are some great foods here!

Just had a thought, we have a ton of old metal roofing from another old barn. I wonder if that would work to make a low to the ground outside roof for them? I could put hay bales all around it in the worst weather with just a small space for ventilation. Sound like a good idea?

 

[patandchickens]

Even if you are free-ranging there is one excellent (IMO) reason to build a run: sometimes it may not be safe for your chickens to be out. Like if there are loose dogs around. Like if you're training new chickens to return to the coop. Like if you're having a family reunion and people don't want poo all over their picnic tables and you don't want kids chasing the chickens. Like if you've lost some chickens lately and want to take care of whatever's doing it before you lose more. Etc.

It is real hard to knock together a sturdy run on short-to-no notice, and it sucks to have to lock the chickens in the *coop* (which is usually pretty small) in the above sorts of situations.

Quote:
I would build them a run for wintertime if it were me. You can leave the outside door of it open whenever you want, you know? But you may find yourself wanting to use it sometimes. Remember that predators get hungry in winter and hunt harder. And if you discover that your property does not have enough wind-shelter for your chickens to be comfortable spending most of their time outdoors, you will be stuck with them mostly indoors (how big is your coop? is it really big enough for them to be IN all the time without trouble) unless you can construct more shelter for them near the coop, which is pretty hard to do in a strong won't-blow-away kind of fashion once it is serious wintertime. Whereas, a stoutly built run that is already in place can be tarted up to provide decent shelter.

JMHO, good luck,

Pat

 

[damselfish]

I'm a bit confused...do you have a coop (an enclosed building), but no run, or do you have no chicken-specific shelter at all?

If there's no coop, I would say you need one, or an enclosed area in another building, before winter. A bit of shelter from the wind probably won't be enough. See coop-building section and PM the other northern folks as previous posters suggested.

Now, if you already have a coop I will say that my chickens free-range all day with no run, summer and winter, but in addition to the option of staying inside, they have a barn to run to, shrubs to hide under, and we get less snow & cold than you.

Good luck!