Need advice whether this run/roof is doable please *pics*

[catchthewind]

We're going to try and get our run done this weekend, so that our chicks can at least be out side all day if not overnight yet (cause our coop isn't quite done).

Here is my crude plan (sorry, I'm not a Paint artist haha, and the note was to my husband):

We were going to bury our posts in cement and hope to end up with the run being around 6'6" tall (my husband and I are both 6' tall). The problem is, the coop is only around 5'8" around the outer edges. We were going to have hardware cloth running around the bottom and out the sides, and welded 2x4 wire around the top. Not sure how we are going to roof it yet, but it has to be able to handle some snow load.

Here's the (unfinished) coop for reference:

I may be missing something simple. Is it possible to have a 6'6" run when the coop is lower than that without having it slope towards the coop (which I assume would be a bad idea, especially in my rainy climate)? I'd love for at least part of it to be completely roofed (and we have some corrugated roofing we might be able to use for that), as this run is really only for if we have to go away for the day or in bad weather.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Just a few quick thoughts.

I'm guessing the door is on the 8' side.

Instead of an ell-shaped run, make your run 8' wide and about 20 feet long. You will lose some wire length when you go around those corner posts and you will probably not use wire for the portion that is your gate into the run, so you can adjust that 20 feet dimension. Don't try to get too efficient or you'll wind up with just barely too little wire.

Close in the difference in elevation between the top of your coop and the run top with vertical wire.

When you plan on the height of the run top, you might want to consider some things. When you step, you do not stay 6'-0" high. You bounce up and down as you step. When you frame in your roof or wire supports, those frames have depth. Think about where the bottoms of those will be instead of the tops. If you wear a cap or hat with a brim, you cannot always see those low hanging frames. Caps or hats may cushion the blow a little, but not that much.

You might want to make one side of the run higher than 6'-6" so the whole thing slopes one way. That is an easy way to get the framing above head height. Plus, if you ever decide to cover the run or part of it, it makes it a lot easier if the supports already slope a bit.

 

[DaughterOfEve]

We use a very similar L shaped set up with part of the run under roof. It works nicely for us.
Our coop is 8 x 8

 

[elmo]

What you could do is construct a lower ceiling for the run alongside the coop, at its roof height, extending outwards for six inches or so, then bump up to your desired height. You're not putting on a solid roof, right? You don't have to worry about drainage, just bumping your head. It won't look the best, but short of raising the roof on the coop I don't see what other alternatives you have.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think the concern in the Vancouver climate is to avoid rain water from running off the coop roof into the run. Unless you put a gutter on the slope that is pointing toward the run, I don't see a way to keep water from running into the run if the run is on that side of the coop. The Ell-shaped run does give quite a bit more room than the rectangular run I suggested.

 

[catchthewind]

Thank you all. I thought I had replied to this already. Lots to think about and some really good comments and suggestions for us. DaughterofEve, I love your run! That's how I envisioned ours. Unfortunately, after going out there and walking where the fence line would be some more, we've realized what Ridgerunner suggested would be more practical for us anyway. There are just too many tall trees behind the coop where part of our L would be. So we're going to go 10x18 instead (the 18 would go out to the left on the picture and the 10 would run along the 10 foot side of the coop). We have some corrugated roofing we're going to try and put over the run against the coop to keep the area by the pop hole dry and so we can maybe keep food outside the coop, but I don't know if there's any practical way to do it. For sure we'll have gutters though. Anyway, I think Elmo's suggestion of having the roof come out and then up will work either way. It doesn't need to be pretty.