Hello all, I'm currently building a large tractor and an outdoor run that will attach to it. I would like to make the run just over 18" tall, so I can split my 3' hardware cloth in half and save money. It's going to be basically a square box. I realize 2' tall would be better, but can I get by with 18"? I plan to get red stars when everything is finnished their supposed to be 5-6lbs at maturity, but I've not been able to find how tall they get.
The chickens I am acquainted with can all fly about two feet up - plus lots of other things could jump in at that height. I would go higher.
I think the OP meant that it would be a covered run so they wouldn't be able to fly over the top. Sorry, don't know if that height will work or not, but wanted to comment that my Red Star is the tallest of my MPC order of four chicks, but don't know if she is typical or atypical, since she's the only one I have.
There won't be any problem with making the run 18" tall and saving money is always a good thing. Just realize you won't be able to stand up in it.
I wouldn't do 18" unless it was somehow really unavoidable. Normal sized chickens can't stretch up fully at that height ceiling, and even bantams won't be able to particularly hop/flap/fly. Even just an additional 6" (i.e. half a 4' roll of wire) would be a big improvement, although IMHO 2'6 (half a 5' roll) would be even better. If you're making a short run like that, make sure you have access panels every so often so you can easily reach in to clean, chase chickens, retrieve eggs, etc. Good luck, have fun, Pat
