kit options for chicken run?

[brad2048]

We have one of those prefab coops that has a run space that is too small for our four hens. The maker says it's big enough for eight, though it's only about six feet long. Huh?

Anyway, we currently use a dog pen with a canopy cover that we move around to give the girls play time in the yard, but I'm thinking about getting a walk-in chicken kennel for daytime use, separate from this coop, which they can convert to a dirt area. This type of kennel "kit" comes with chicken wire, as you can see in the picture below, so not chain link or hardware cloth. I know this is not suitable for nighttime use, since we have raccoons as well as flying predators like hawks and falcons around here (suburb city north of Seattle). The one I'm looking at (on amazon) is the one below, it's 10' x 6' x 6', so 15 sq ft / hen for our four.

There are sturdier options that I've seen in the forum threads here, but we don't get those predators like raccoons during the day, so I naively expect that it should be okay. The yard has a six foot wooden fence around it, so stray dogs are not a threat.

Does anyone have experience with this type of kennel?

It's a kit, so hopefully not a major project to assemble, but I've never worked with fencing. Is it simpler, and not much harder to assemble, to just buy the components?

Thank you

 

[U_Stormcrow]

As you surmise, the maker of that hen house is full of "it" regarding the number of hen it should be used to house. And we have a significant number of BYC members who have converted dog kennel/run kits to use by their flock by adding some hardware cloth to the chain link backing and calling it a day - rather than trying to take down a bunch of chicken wire, and adding hardware cloth to that. Otherwise, the "bones" are very similar.

With a bigger budget (and a bigger chain link enclosure) you might decide a small solar charger and back up battery provides enough predator protection, when combined with a set of wires standing off from the kennel, that hardware cloth isn't needed. So, you have options - depending on size and budget.

 

[rosemarythyme]

There are sturdier options that I've seen in the forum threads here, but we don't get those predators like raccoons during the day, so I naively expect that it should be okay.

It may or may not be ok. Raccoons are active in the day, just less so (since my hubby gets to shoo them off every so often), so I'd strongly consider at least covering the lower half of the run with hardware cloth.

Not sure how sturdy/strong that unit is overall, at the very least I'd look into anchoring it so it doesn't become a kite in windstorms.

 

[brad2048]

It may or may not be ok. Raccoons are active in the day, just less so (since my hubby gets to shoo them off every so often), so I'd strongly consider at least covering the lower half of the run with hardware cloth.

Not sure how sturdy/strong that unit is overall, at the very least I'd look into anchoring it so it doesn't become a kite in windstorms.

The picture of the coop was before I added a hardware cloth skirt around it, and I figured I would have to add some around that run.

Good point about the kite potential. We get wind with the winter storms. That might be enough of a reason to get a sturdier model

 

[K0k0shka]

Don't trust manufacturers and sellers of coops. They're trying to make money, not meet animal needs. There's no regulation when it comes to chicken coop manufacturing and selling. So humane animal husbandry is on you, not on them. The recommendation is 4 square feet of floor space per bird in the coop, and at least 10 in the run. You can cram them tighter than that, of course, but that can lead to problems.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

...and many of the chicken coop kits are coming out of manufacturers of dog houses or portable sheds who merely modified an existing product and slapped a "chicken" label on it to take advantage of the consumer trends. No particular expertise in any aspect of chicken keeping is evident in their handiwork.

Even the "Quaker Coops" you see on the side of the road have substantial deficiencies, for all that they were modelled on an existing design suitable for a single management style, in a single part of the country.

etc. Yet they want as much for these coops as i paid for my first car...

 

[brad2048]

I've seen listings for "Quaker Coops" like that online and that red model is sold at a farm store near us. Very pricey.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I've seen listings for "Quaker Coops" like that online and that red model is sold at a farm store near us. Very pricey.

Also, very lacking in ventilation - people close the windows all the time, while open, they generally don't have hardware cloth for predator protection. Inside, the roosting bars tend to be the height of the nesting boxes, so chickens sleep in the boxes (and poop there) as well. The top open design for egg acces is good, but the way its built, wind driven rain can be easily forced into the coop. The height, otoh, means you are still bending over to access them - not optimum. Meanwhile, for all that they are lifted off the ground, the size of them is often such that its either not useable area for the birds because its too low, or its not accessible to you when a sick bird, a scared bird, or a bird just starting to lay decides to hide there.

and that's just the highlights of the lowlights in them...

 

[brad2048]

Yeah, there's that coop...

There's a picture of our coop in my original post. It has some of the lowlights that U_Stormcrow pointed out. It has a window with hardware cloth on the side facing the hedge, but the window is small and wind-blown rain will get in there. There is a gap between the side wall and roof of the next box area for rain too, as U_Stormcrow noticed.

I fixed a few things, but I can't fix the flimsiness. The picture shows the original ramp location. The ramp was supposed to be mounted to the hen house area with fixed-angle brackets, but I replaced those with hinges, which turned out to be a good thing because the ramp was quite steep. I put the lower end on a few bricks to change the angle, but even then the girls had a hard time with it because the rungs were too far apart. Because the coop was sold as big enough for eight chickens, there were two roost bars, so I cut up one of them to make extra rungs. The roost bars were mounted only a few inches off the floor and very close to the side walls (there's only two feet in the short direction to work with), so I made a pair of taller mounting boards and moved the remaining roost bar to the center.

Those small things I can address, but I don't think I have the construction skills or tools to build a trued, wooden-frame run, which is, of course, also why I bought a prefab coop with its set of problems instead of attempting to build one

 

[rosemarythyme]

Those small things I can address, but I don't think I have the construction skills or tools to build a trued, wooden-frame run, which is, of course, also why I bought a prefab coop with its set of problems instead of attempting to build one

Another option would be a dog kennel for a run, they're usually pretty solid since they're intended to hold dogs.

You would need to do some modifications of course, like hardware cloth at least the bottom few feet (if not the whole thing), and cover up gaps on the side of the doors as they tend to be quite big.