Is there an advantage to having both a covered and uncovered run?

[Chad Oftedal]

In the space that I am preparing for my coop plus run, I have currently drawn it up to have two connected run sections. The first section would be covered, and would be approximately 10 ft long, by 8 ft wide, for a total of 80 sq. ft. I would incorporate it off of the coop which will be 6 ft wide by 8 ft long, so the chickens would leave the coop and out into this covered run area. In addition, I have space to add another section of run space that would be go behind the coop and run right alongside and the length of the covered run. This would add an additional 105 sq. ft. of run space for a grand total of 185 sq. ft. for 8-10 birds. In my mind right now, I see sectioning the run spaces so that I could open it all up to them, or only the covered section (hint: I live near the Seattle area and we sometimes get a little rainfall).

OK, so is there any benefit to having an uncovered run? By this I mean no roof to prevent the rain from falling in the run area - I'd still have a mesh top for predator protection. I'm mainly thinking when they are out scratching around and foraging, do they get exposed to different things in the ground cover that might be beneficial that they don't get from a covered run?

Given the rainfall that we get here, would I just be that much farther ahead to cover the whole entire run area from the very beginning? I like the thought of them enjoying the sunshine in the uncovered run when the weather permits, but I'm trying to be practical too. If it's much better for them to have the large covered area available rain or shine than to have the uncovered for the shorter time of the year that weather permits, then I'd rather do it all now than have to come back to it later.

I'm really trying not to overthink this, but I see it much easier to buy the extra lumber now and knock everything out if that's the smarter way to go.

Thoughts?

 

[User395221]

How many rain-free days do you get? If your uncovered is just going to be a quagmire that they can't use, stick a roof on it. Mine is covered in the front of the coop and just meshed (with some shadecloth over part of it) in the run part, but we never have any rain.
It really depends on your weather and what to expect. Does it snow there? I understand that you need something strong to support snow, if you get it, so just mesh might not be practicable.

 

[ChickNanny13]

My Run/Coop (8x12x7) is completely covered, mainly cause it rains alot here. They still enjoy the morning & early afternoon Sun. Less chance of wild birds pooping as they fly over. Due to the humidity here, we did an "open" enclosure & I hung shower curtains on EMT rods so I can close them out when the wind blows rain in. They're confined to the RC & everyone's happy.

 

[Birdinhand]

I'm in shoreline, North of Seattle, and I too pondered this question. turns out, unless you give them a lot more space, more than is practical in an enclosed are, they will peck and scratch the runs down to dirt. for a variety of reasons, chickens seem to do best when kept dry. they like to dust bathe, scratch and turn over and pick at the same dirt, over and over and over again. I decided to cover my runs and I would recommend doing that, especially given the potential for a muddy cesspool here with all the rain. I had a neighbor who didn't cover their run and it turned into a muck, which I was quite convinced became a haven for microbes to breed.

I have concluded that the more space you can give them the better, so what you are planning sounds more than adequate and should help to keep them happy and healthy!

 

[pennyJo1960]

In the space that I am preparing for my coop plus run, I have currently drawn it up to have two connected run sections. The first section would be covered, and would be approximately 10 ft long, by 8 ft wide, for a total of 80 sq. ft. I would incorporate it off of the coop which will be 6 ft wide by 8 ft long, so the chickens would leave the coop and out into this covered run area. In addition, I have space to add another section of run space that would be go behind the coop and run right alongside and the length of the covered run. This would add an additional 105 sq. ft. of run space for a grand total of 185 sq. ft. for 8-10 birds. In my mind right now, I see sectioning the run spaces so that I could open it all up to them, or only the covered section (hint: I live near the Seattle area and we sometimes get a little rainfall).

OK, so is there any benefit to having an uncovered run? By this I mean no roof to prevent the rain from falling in the run area - I'd still have a mesh top for predator protection. I'm mainly thinking when they are out scratching around and foraging, do they get exposed to different things in the ground cover that might be beneficial that they don't get from a covered run?

Given the rainfall that we get here, would I just be that much farther ahead to cover the whole entire run area from the very beginning? I like the thought of them enjoying the sunshine in the uncovered run when the weather permits, but I'm trying to be practical too. If it's much better for them to have the large covered area available rain or shine than to have the uncovered for the shorter time of the year that weather permits, then I'd rather do it all now than have to come back to it later.

I'm really trying not to overthink this, but I see it much easier to buy the extra lumber now and knock everything out if that's the smarter way to go.

Thoughts?

I live down here in Mossyrock 21 west on 12 from I - 5 Morton to Yakima exit
my girls will be out in rain or whatever only thing that stops them is snow but they have a dirt floor in the coop they do dust bathes in

 

[Chad Oftedal]

How many rain-free days do you get? If your uncovered is just going to be a quagmire that they can't use, stick a roof on it. Mine is covered in the front of the coop and just meshed (with some shadecloth over part of it) in the run part, but we never have any rain.
It really depends on your weather and what to expect. Does it snow there? I understand that you need something strong to support snow, if you get it, so just mesh might not be practicable.

So that's actually a great question - number of days of rain. At times, it feels like "all the time", but that's actually not so true. I did a quick bit of searching. On average, we have 152 rainy days. They define a rainy day as at least 0.01 inches of rain - I guess enough to make everything feel wet/damp. We only see 5 days a year where it rains an inch or more. So, about 60% days are dry, and 40% would be rainy. Now, I can say that a big chunk of those rainy days come in the Fall through Spring. Late spring and summer here on in to early fall is quite pleasant, and we have a lot of sunny days strung together in a row. Granted, that's generalities, but gives you an idea. It could be quite feasible to just shut off access to the uncovered run space when the Fall rain starts, and open it back up again in later Spring.

As for snow, we generally get it a time or two in the winter. Probably not enough to fuss over. If it got really bad, it wouldn't be hard for me to clean off the roof. Snow might hang around a week or two if we get it really bad, but generally, it's a novelty that is gone after a couple of days.

 

[Chad Oftedal]

I'm in shoreline, North of Seattle, and I too pondered this question. turns out, unless you give them a lot more space, more than is practical in an enclosed are, they will peck and scratch the runs down to dirt. for a variety of reasons, chickens seem to do best when kept dry. they like to dust bathe, scratch and turn over and pick at the same dirt, over and over and over again. I decided to cover my runs and I would recommend doing that, especially given the potential for a muddy cesspool here with all the rain. I had a neighbor who didn't cover their run and it turned into a muck, which I was quite convinced became a haven for microbes to breed.

I have concluded that the more space you can give them the better, so what you are planning sounds more than adequate and should help to keep them happy and healthy!

Ah, this is very relevant advice given we are so close to each other location wise. That makes total sense about creating a microbe breeding ground. What did you end up using to cover your run, and since it is covered, do you just leave it dirt, or do you still have some sort of litter management?

 

[pennyJo1960]

I will be able to post tomorrow I am not at my computer now I am able to say 50 x 50 net off Amazon but unable to get to the account from my phone we shop Amazon allot thankfully that or Costco are our main go to

 

[User395221]

It could be quite feasible to just shut off access to the uncovered run space when the Fall rain starts, and open it back up again in later Spring.

If your chooks are anything like mine, rain won't bother them at all, they'll just walk about in it anyway.
I'd give it a go uncovered. It's no big deal to add some roofing sheets if you find it is unpleasant/restricting their area of use. It sounds like your weather isn't as awful as it seems on Grey's Anatomy to need year-round cover. Chickens are very resilient. It might even be better to have it open because any dampness will evaporate when the sun comes out.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'm in the same climate as you and my run isn't roofed, so here's my experience.

If you can afford to roof the whole thing, there's no real drawback to it. The only reason I didn't roof mine is a little silly - my husband is taller than the run and I didn't want him to have to stoop!

If you want to leave some of it unroofed, well, the rain doesn't bother the chickens all that much, they will go in and out of it as they please. Mine however don't like snow, though we don't tend to get much of it. And since heat isn't usually an issue my chickens seem to enjoy basking in the sun and picking at leaves that fall into the run, so it's nice to have it more open like that.

An uncovered, wet run without some sort of litter or covering over bare soil can get pretty nasty. For that reason I recommend using some form of deep litter with varied sizes of materials which will allow for drainage and also give the chickens something to dig through and occupy themselves with. My run is not at all stinky or mucky since I improved on the mix of litter and the chickens are content to spend hours digging around and making/unmaking piles of litter. Even after the worst of rain I just go and kick any piled up litter into any small puddles and it's safe for the chickens to walk on.