Looking for some advice- building LARGE run

[rosemarythyme]

I'd do it more like a fence. Make smaller panels, maybe 8x8 at most as that also removes need for cutting wood, and attach each panel to a post sunk into the ground. It'll make it more manageable to handle and more stable.

 

[Don 27]

* Update *
I borrowed my little bro's phone and took some pics of the coop inside and out, and the area where the run will be attached to!
As you can see, the little square hole leading to the run will be open pretty much all the time since it's hot in Florida and we may not always be around to let them out; Shadrach's comment got me thinking, and I think we may dismantle the entire frame we already put together and go with a "fence" type run with bird netting over the entire thing, and tarp on top near the coop opening for shade and rain shelter. Tell me what you think!
PICS:
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The coop part is really nice. My coop is an old barn.(and It needs a little work). As for the run I just have a roof over chicken wire and a frame. it works well. As long as they have access to the ground.

 

[kiwi-chick]

With the exception of the weight, a single solid long wall, or two abutting short walls could act as a very nice wind break; cover this area with your tarp (or if at all possible, a sheet of zinc roofing material) and you'd have the makings for a sturdy, shady, dry spot for your flock to get in out of the weather.

I heartily agree with this - don't know what your weather is like but this would be great shade in summer, wind and rain shelter in winter!

EDIT: Chickens love to be outside and if you give them shade or wind and rain shelter they will be outside as much as possible.

 

[TopazMaster91]

I heartily agree with this - don't know what your weather is like but this would be great shade in summer, wind and rain shelter in winter!

EDIT: Chickens love to be outside and if you give them shade or wind and rain shelter they will be outside as much as possible.

We live in central Florida, the only bad or extreme weather we get is heat, rain during summer, and the occasional hurricane, though they are usually weak by the time they get this far inland; for that reason we're going to anchor the coop to the ground, and the run as well, as well as definitely tarp over part of the run, at least 1/4 - 1/3 of it

 

[BarnyardChaos]

You might think it's entirely too much wood, but you might appreciate the sturdiness in a windstorm. If I were you, I'd cut that 24-ft section in half so it's more manageable. Make the 16' sections, and two more 12' sections. Stand one of the 16' sections up, and brace it by attaching 2x4's at an angle on one or both sides, like this:

Then stand up a 12' section on each end of the 16' wall, brace them, then attach securely at the corners. Make sure the open ends of the 12' sections are exactly the same distance apart. You now have a U-shaped section that will stand on its own. You can take down the braces. Then stand up the next two 12' sections, brace and attach to the ends (making 24' long walls), and stand up the last 16' section between them, and brace it. Line everything up, screw it all together, and done. You can give it some better stability by adding some 2x4's at an angle across the walls, kind of like this:

It will stand on its own for years and withstand high winds. Remind dear ol' dad that it's NOT going to support a roof, so you don't need so many vertical studs. You should be able to remove some of the vertical studs to reduce the weight of the walls. You should be making the distance between vertical studs at exactly the same width as your hardware cloth. Plan ahead so you don't create a headache later in trying to attach the hardware cloth.

You COULD sink some posts into the ground just at the four corners, and maybe where the 12' sections meet in the middle, to give it permanence and even better bracing against weather. 2' into the ground is not enough if you plan to do this. Rains soften the ground to the point that they're useless as a support post. Go 3' deep at least, or don't waste your time. Use treated lumber or 4x4 posts so they won't rot off - NOT ordinary boards.

We have pasture fencing with hedge posts (hedge is a wood that's naturally rot-resistant; free and abundant in our area). They're only holding up barbed wire and livestock fencing. But we have those posts sunk 4' into the ground at a minimum. On outbuildings we've constructed - and for corner posts in the pasture, we sink the post into the hole, dump in a couple bags of dry cement mix, dump a bucket of water on top of them, then fill the hole with dirt. Ain't going nowhere soon. You could do the same in the corners and where the 12' sections meet, and your heavy walls will stand and hold just fine.

Hope this helps.

 

[kiwi-chick]

After that we'll add a sort of wood skirt to the bottom

that sounds like my run, although I do not have the predator issue that you have in the united states....

 

[aart]

Fwiw I finally am getting my coop/run pics posted.... I'm sorry I don't know how to cut-n-paste in this forum on my phone just yet, otherwise I'd drop it here for ya.

O have a few pics of the plans so far and some showing its progress back during this summer.

Best just to copy and paste the URL of your build thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/our-coop-run-in-north-texas.1342255/

 

[Cryss]

That's not my run. Here's a smaller one of mine using the same technique as my 10x30 run. The poles slide into special fittings at the top and are secured to the run by brackets you can get at places like Lowes (I guess you already have these).

The carriage bolts that secure the brackets to the run point upwards so that the cattle panel can rest against the nuts (You will probably have to buy longer bolts; I used galvanized). Then a washer is placed on the bolt over the panel and secured with another nut. The cattle panels are wired to the slanted poles. The netting at top was necessary because the panels are only 50 inches wide (they are 16' long). Chicken wire or hardware cloth would work as well.

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Thank you!

 

[TopazMaster91]

That looks fine, tho spacing your wall studs to the size mesh you are gong to use will make things easier when you get to the point.
You just need to sink some posts(4" x 4") into the ground to attach the walls to,
probably at each corner then half way down each wall.

Good point; at this moment, I think we may just take apart the wall we framed out and go with more of a fence type of thing, six feet high and with bird netting over the entire thing; just seems easier and will probably use less wood than what we already started doing, and given our general lack of predators where we are, I don't think we need a Fort Knox type of run, know what I mean? As long as it's stable, will last a good long while, and the chickens can't escape / hawks can't get it, we're pretty much set. Thus I'm re-thinking the entire run, still want to go 24ft by 16ft, but instead of "walls", more of a fence instead. I'm thinking we'll probably save wood, save time, and save effort doing something I KNOW we can do VS something we have no experience doing.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Good point; at this moment, I think we may just take apart the wall we framed out and go with more of a fence type of thing, six feet high and with bird netting over the entire thing; just seems easier and will probably use less wood than what we already started doing, and given our general lack of predators where we are, I don't think we need a Fort Knox type of run, know what I mean? As long as it's stable, will last a good long while, and the chickens can't escape / hawks can't get it, we're pretty much set. Thus I'm re-thinking the entire run, still want to go 24ft by 16ft, but instead of "walls", more of a fence instead. I'm thinking we'll probably save wood, save time, and save effort doing something I KNOW we can do VS something we have no experience doing.

You need to think about putting something down the middle to attach the netting to. I would use the same wood for the middle that you are using on the outside. To stabilize them use a 2 x 4 to attach the outside post to the center post. When you do this you have something to attach the netting to that will hold.