...just BUYING a chicken run?

[Cryss]

There are great ideas on BYC for building DIY customs coops and runs... but has anyone had good luck with just purchasing a large predator-resistant chicken run? Like something that basically snaps together? ...I am not particularly handy. I have been surprised how difficult it seems to find an easy-to-assemble kit, even if I am willing to spend like $1000! LOL. The enclosed walk-in omlet runs seem like the best bet at first glance, but I am still not overly impressed. Help!

If I were to buy something I’d get a chain link dog kennel, Perhaps with the tarp roof and put a coop within in. The size you need and cost will depend how many chickens you have.

I have assembled a coop from a kit with a 4'x7' run surrounding it. I am basically looking to add a supplementary run area approx. 12'x12' or 12'x9' ... I have 4 pullets that will eventually be pretty large sized birds. I would like to spoil them if possible within my $1000 budget.

Yes, I started with a prefab and 4 "pullets" (2 turned out to be cockerels, another story for another time). I bought a chain link dog run from Tractor Supply, 10x10x6, for $200. I bought either 3 rolls of 1/2X4X100 hardware cloth from home depot for about $170 each. So about $710 plus tax. The following year I bought more birds and 1 more chain link fence and hardware cloth. I opened one original panel and added the 4 new panels to make the run now be 10x30x6. Now I'm building a new coop. But that first 10x10x6 run was good for 4 birds.

 

[Cryss]

There are great ideas on BYC for building DIY customs coops and runs... but has anyone had good luck with just purchasing a large predator-resistant chicken run? Like something that basically snaps together? ...I am not particularly handy. I have been surprised how difficult it seems to find an easy-to-assemble kit, even if I am willing to spend like $1000! LOL. The enclosed walk-in omlet runs seem like the best bet at first glance, but I am still not overly impressed. Help!

If I were to buy something I’d get a chain link dog kennel, Perhaps with the tarp roof and put a coop within in. The size you need and cost will depend how many chickens you have.

I have assembled a coop from a kit with a 4'x7' run surrounding it. I am basically looking to add a supplementary run area approx. 12'x12' or 12'x9' ... I have 4 pullets that will eventually be pretty large sized birds. I would like to spoil them if possible within my $1000 budget.

Yes, I started with a prefab and 4 "pullets" (2 turned out to be cockerels, another story for another time). I bought a chain link dog run from Tractor Supply, 10x10x6, for $200. I bought either 3 rolls of 1/2X4X100 hardware cloth from home depot for about $170 each. So about $710 plus tax. The following year I bought more birds and 1 more chain link fence and hardware cloth. I opened one original panel and added the 4 new panels to make the run now be 10x30x6. Now I'm building a new coop. But that first 10x10x6 run was good for 4 birds.

 

[IamRainey]

I get my shade cloth at a local nursery. They typically carry several weights/densities and sometimes a number of colors as well. It's sold by the foot from rolls that are about 8' wide.

I get the heaviest density and then double it for SoCal. You may not need that much protection in NoCal.

 

[horsekeeper]

If you use Simpson Strong Tie connectors a run is pretty easy to build with 2x4s. Mine has held up for 10 years now with no predator break-ins.

 

[sharondoright]

If you use Simpson Strong Tie connectors a run is pretty easy to build with 2x4s. Mine has held up for 10 years now with no predator break-ins.
View attachment 1823286 View attachment 1823288 View attachment 1823289

I love your metal fence roofing. My netting gets weighed down with snow/ice.

 

[horsekeeper]

I kept my Pekin ducks and Embden geese in this pen the first winter I had them and they did just fine. The snow mostly falls through and the yard wire (2x3) is strong enough to hold up.

 

[path.otto]

Oh, good to know...if you remember, where did you get your shade cloth?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAWGCZE/?tag=backy-20

They come in different colors depending on the size you get. I definitely like the 90% shade vs 70% shade.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I can totally relate to the OP when he says he "is not particularly handy." I love my DH dearly, and he is a man of many talents, but building things is not among them as he will be the first to tell you. And although I used to be pretty handy myself, I am no spring chicken, pardon the pun, and have had surgery in both shoulders and have a host of other health issues so my coop- and run-building days are behind me, more's the pity. Good handymen are scarce as hens' teeth around here (look out, I'm on a roll!) and when I can actually find one I usually have more urgent needs like repairing plumbing or fixing a roof. Hum. Maybe somebody should design a put-together kit of pre-assembled panels that even someone that's all thumbs could put together easily and would foil the most determined predator. You could call it . . . Hens' Pens. Or something....

 

[Cryss]

I can totally relate to the OP when he says he "is not particularly handy." I love my DH dearly, and he is a man of many talents, but building things is not among them as he will be the first to tell you. And although I used to be pretty handy myself, I am no spring chicken, pardon the pun, and have had surgery in both shoulders and have a host of other health issues so my coop- and run-building days are behind me, more's the pity. Good handymen are scarce as hens' teeth around here (look out, I'm on a roll!) and when I can actually find one I usually have more urgent needs like repairing plumbing or fixing a roof. Hum. Maybe somebody should design a put-together kit of pre-assembled panels that even someone that's all thumbs could put together easily and would foil the most determined predator. You could call it . . . Hens' Pens. Or something....

(SSSHHHHHHHH!!! I've been meditating on just that scenario!!!)

 

[ChickNanny13]

Thank you. The kennels I have seen online still need hardware cloth and a roof installed over them to be predator-safe...The costs start to be in the $2,000's by my calculations... or maybe I am just not researching the right kennels?...It looks like you also have some kind of tenting over your set up. What are you using?

Sorry been away from the computer ... The Chicken House has metal roofing, I have shower curtains hung completely around using EMT for rods, protection from the weather when needed. Works great.