Need Chicken Run Improvements for Winter

[PirateGirl]

An AFrame would shed snow, could have wheels like a tractor or could be made of modular panels.

 

[gtaus]

View attachment 1965687
An AFrame would shed snow, could have wheels like a tractor or could be made of modular panels.
View attachment 1965688

Thank you for the pictures. I can see where I could have one of those as a winter run inside a much larger modular panel chicken run that is used year round. I already have the plastic roofing for the covered part, could use chicken wire for the open part, and staple some nice greenhouse type plastic over the chicken wire to prevent snow from blowing in. That A Frame design intuitively looks like it would be better for our winter's snow and probably be maintenance free all winter long.

It could easily be made to be less than 6 foot tall, and thereby fit into my modular panel chicken run. If I broke it down into 4 panels that come together to make the A Frame, then it would be easy to take down flat and store in the shed until needed.

I am also thinking a small A Frame like that might be a good thing to have in the summertime if you need an isolation cage for some reason. You could keep the small A Frame in the main chicken run, yet have that bird(s) separated from the others.

I think I can see a number of advantages of having a small A Frame inside my main chicken run over using a cattle panel hoop house. The cattle panel hoop house would be taller, heavier, and not shed snow as well. Normally, I prefer something that is easy for me to walk into standing upright. However, for a winter run, I would not be leaving any food or water in there so would not need to get in there for routine maintenance or chores.

Lots of good ideas are coming to mind from your suggestion. Thank you for the pictures which really helped me visualize the possibilities.