Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[preciouskitty]

That is one sweet coop! Always love the barn theme, so down home and comfy 

Yeah, when I got it it was just primered.
Simply had to go with the barn theme to match the ones in the area & have always loved the color combo.
Lucked out that the guy was giving a deal of no charge for choice of color for the metal roof.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

Snow load is something to consider.

I have one of those temporary tent garages that I use in the run. It is 10 by 20 feet and maybe 10 feet high at the peak. The metal tube supports are 4 per side. The wall and roof material are tarp material.
This unit has been used year-round for 4 or 5 seasons. It has supported some heavy snow that I manually removed and a lot of snow that I just left in place that melted on sunny days.

For being a cheap structure, this thing has sheltered my birds very well in winter. They have a dry place to hang out in during the day. With straw bales around the perimeter it is pretty draft free.

Something like this might work for your run.

ETA - Photo
For those who may not know about the temporary garages, this is what it looks like on the inside. I put a piece of PVC pipe on the back wall so I can roll it up.

That looks so nice and warm and they have plenty of room to play and frolic. Ok, I got it, I want precious kitty's coop w/this garage for a run off the side of it. Ya it will never happen, but I can keep dreaming. lol That much room, I'd be in there playing all day with them.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

my thoughts... rabbit trays - good idea!

Plastic wrap the whole coop - Bad idea! You should keep ventilation open, close off as needed with wood or something to allow adjustment - play it by ear.. but start with it unblocked. Ok to wrap an outside run as long as you consider snow loads as discussed above. (I have to set something up myself this year too.)

Sealing those off will cause condensation/moisture and a host of issues from mold, respiratory issues to frost bite. the worst! Combs and toes will turn black and fall off!! Not to mention if you painted the outside, it will cause paint to peel if there is moisture trapped in the wood under the paint.

I would clear away your pop door so it closes and can be latched/locked from the outside - predator proofing!!

Another thing you can do to help birds in winter is to provide wider roosts. 2 x 4 with the 4" side flat for them to sit on. This keeps the feet tucked up under their bodies/feathers!!

I bought 2 vents today w/screen on them, I'm gonna put them on each side of coop near the top. There's no way to open and close these ones, do you think that will be ok? Poop door is just warped a little, closes most of the way, predators not much of a problem here, other than hawks during the day. I do use the 2x4 with 4" side flat. Thanks for your suggestions, I never even thought of wrapping the fence around the run until I seen you guys bringing it up.

 

[mara1]

Quote: if you didn't use the side posts and attached the tress on top of the coop or if its wider drop the poles down to the same height it would probably be more stable. I had mine strapped to my privacy fence which made a big difference in stability and was surrounded by garage/house and fence. So the wind was probably well blocked. Our township made both of my neighbors take theirs down that were on the side of their garages covering boats ect..

 

[Trefoil]

Yep. Have pondered the same thing. It is not often we get that kind of accumulation, but even with a few inches my plan is to clean it off, even the metal roof (which has extra bracing inside to help deal w/load). Plan to have guy that plows my drive move snow as needed. Like you, I want my girls to have plenty of "play" space they can actually/will use...

ALSO like you, always have 5 layers on...even with NEW winter hunting gear...& I keep a fleece blanket with me in the blind! Right now, in my house, I have thin long johns on with my jeans! And 4 layers on top ! I can't afford to start cranking thru propane in October to keep it at 70. And can't use my wood burner til we get the chimney cleaned & door gasket replaced on 8 November. Boy do I want to crank it up right now!

It would be easy to make an "A" frame to fit over the top of your run and cover it with a tarp. As long as you stretched the tarp over the frame, the snow would fall off the "roof" and when there is no snow or rain in the forecast you could easily make it so you could just lift if off and out of the way.

Snow load is something to consider.

I have one of those temporary tent garages that I use in the run. It is 10 by 20 feet and maybe 10 feet high at the peak. The metal tube supports are 4 per side. The wall and roof material are tarp material.
This unit has been used year-round for 4 or 5 seasons. It has supported some heavy snow that I manually removed and a lot of snow that I just left in place that melted on sunny days.

For being a cheap structure, this thing has sheltered my birds very well in winter. They have a dry place to hang out in during the day. With straw bales around the perimeter it is pretty draft free.

Something like this might work for your run.

ETA - Photo
For those who may not know about the temporary garages, this is what it looks like on the inside. I put a piece of PVC pipe on the back wall so I can roll it up.

I was wondering about using them for chickens, thanks for the post.

 

[preciouskitty]

Ahhh...wind has died down a tad, birds are singing...and I am comfortably sitting in my lounge chair in my blind ...hopefully that 6pt shows up. If not, a gorgeous evening to sit back, relax, listen to nature & read my book

 

[Opa]

Today was a great day on the river even though we didn't get any fish. The water level was extremely low and would be nigh on impossible to navigate with anything other than a jet boat. Water flow was minimal so the lures didn't have much action. We did have a moment of excitement when we hook one large fish but it was off before we could get the rod out of the rod holder. Still I was a nice stretch of river with only a few small cottages to detract from the view. We had just about every type of weather imaginable, sun, clouds, rain, sleet, snow, wind, but still was an enjoyable day.

Snow load is something that definitely needs to be considered when building a run. A good friend lost his entire flock when the snow that accumulated on the plastic 1" mesh that that covered his run sagged enough to suffocate his birds. You wouldn't think that snow would accumulate on 1" mesh but it will. He was so disheartened that he gave me all of the very costly mesh.

When I constructed my run I didn't want a repeat of his tragedy to my 16'x16' run has 16 rafters terminating on a single center pole. I have had snow accumulations of over 2' without any problems.

 

[mara1]

Today was a great day on the river even though we didn't get any fish. The water level was extremely low and would be nigh on impossible to navigate with anything other than a jet boat. Water flow was minimal so the lures didn't have much action. We did have a moment of excitement when we hook one large fish but it was off before we could get the rod out of the rod holder. Still I was a nice stretch of river with only a few small cottages to detract from the view. We had just about every type of weather imaginable, sun, clouds, rain, sleet, snow, wind, but still was an enjoyable day.

Snow load is something that definitely needs to be considered when building a run. A good friend lost his entire flock when the snow that accumulated on the plastic 1" mesh that that covered his run sagged enough to suffocate his birds. You wouldn't think that snow would accumulate on 1" mesh but it will. He was so disheartened that he gave me all of the very costly mesh.

When I constructed my run I didn't want a repeat of his tragedy to my 16'x16' run has 16 rafters terminating on a single center pole. I have had snow accumulations of over 2' without any problems.

ooooooh prettttyyyyyyy.

 

[tdhenson86]

Today was a great day on the river even though we didn't get any fish. The water level was extremely low and would be nigh on impossible to navigate with anything other than a jet boat. Water flow was minimal so the lures didn't have much action. We did have a moment of excitement when we hook one large fish but it was off before we could get the rod out of the rod holder. Still I was a nice stretch of river with only a few small cottages to detract from the view. We had just about every type of weather imaginable, sun, clouds, rain, sleet, snow, wind, but still was an enjoyable day.

Snow load is something that definitely needs to be considered when building a run. A good friend lost his entire flock when the snow that accumulated on the plastic 1" mesh that that covered his run sagged enough to suffocate his birds. You wouldn't think that snow would accumulate on 1" mesh but it will. He was so disheartened that he gave me all of the very costly mesh.

When I constructed my run I didn't want a repeat of his tragedy to my 16'x16' run has 16 rafters terminating on a single center pole. I have had snow accumulations of over 2' without any problems.

I'm glad it was a great trip even without the fish!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Hi y'all. Opa, I'm happy that you enjoyed your day! Remember when we talked in the Spring? Well I cannot tell you enough THANK YOUs for the sand suggestion-- I was only able to haul 2yds bcz it is just sooooo heavy, but what an incredible difference! After Dear Husband and I wrapped it up, I thanked him for dedicating his day off to helping out, he said, "Well it made you happy." (Meaning me) ... And I pointed over to the ducks, and I said "Well it made The Ducks happy!" ROTFL They were super happy and I think it looks great! I think it could be a thicker layer of sand, but since I'm planning on changing things about in the Spring, I think this will work for winter. I agree on the snow load, btw. As a result, my pen has no roof.

@lbrykowski2011
The yellow building is my barn. The door goes to an interior stall space that I use as brooder, lockup for severe storms, sick bay or quarantine (thankfully nothing ever serious here), or time out for behavioral issues. That door faces East (the direction for prevailing winds, not necessarily the best, but it works and has a sweet drop door that DH made me). The playhouse is the favorite spot, that door faces North and the windows I leave jammed up closed during winter. The dog igloo, another preferred location. This year I decided to stack my hay bale wind blocks on the outside of the pen. Last year I did it inside, and cleanup was rather difficult, so Spring 2014 should be much easier in that regard. I'm thinking that I will make a few straw houses in there too, last year the Ladies really enjoyed knocking the bales off the stacks and creating their own little hidey-holes.

Still must get the pallet-waterer set up, that is a bit of an issue. That would be out of the picture, I like that as far away from the house as possible! Plus I'm not sure if I'm going to do more straw bales around the remainder of the East side of the pen and/or the North, or if I will do tarps in those areas again. Thoughts appreciated please?