Official BYC Poll: Is your RUN Covered or Not?

[Alderen]

Our coop is covered. We have a lot of Hawks in our area and I'm afraid that they'll try to birdnap our girls. I'd like to start free-ranging them some during the day, however I am very concerned about the Hawks

 

[WingsysRoost]

Our coop is covered. We have a lot of Hawks in our area and I'm afraid that they'll try to birdnap our girls. I'd like to start free-ranging them some during the day, however I am very concerned about the Hawks

I feel your concern about hawks! I had two come by in less than twenty-four hours one weekend, one of which was sitting on the fence less than twelve feet from one of my (of course completely oblivious!) chickens. They aren't as much of a problem for me in the summer, but they start coming by looking for an easy meal the second the weather starts to get colder.

I have a bunch of aluminum foil wrapped around string stretched across my yard to deter them, since they don't like the shininess or the motion when the wind moves the string. The plan is to get a proper bird net for the chicken yard, so they are able to "free range" outside of their predator-proofed run with less worry about the hawks.

Having a covered run is definitely reassuring, that's for sure!

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My coop and run are both completely covered with a solid roof. When I add an extension, the extension will likely have a hardware cloth roof rather than a solid roof, so that I can try to grow some plants in part of the run.

 

[Ecarroll]

mine doesn’t have a roof but there is an old fishing net thrown over the top to keep out hawks. So far it seems to work pretty well, plus as a bonus the holes are big enough for song birds (that fly in when we’re free ranging) to get out

 

[GodLovesU]

I have netting on mine, but it’s not covered.

 

[Bawkbok]

Our run is covered with garden netting to keep the song birds and squirrels out and that is covered with a tarp - clear during the winter for light and sun as the run is surrounded by trees and a dark tarp for the hot summer months to provide additional shade. We use deep litter after attempts with natural, sand, hay, none of which worked in this climate. Deep litter is the best; mixture of dried leaves, mulch and compost dirt and pine pellets.

 

[C. Conner]

My run is covered with used metal roofing. Helps keep my flock cool in summer and the run stays fairly dry in heavy blowing rains,

 

[BDutch]

My run is covered with used metal roofing. Helps keep my flock cool in summer and the run stays fairly dry in heavy blowing rains,

Metal isn’t any help to keep the coop cool, unless you make a garden or sedum roof on top of it.

 

[Ecarroll]

Metal isn’t any help to keep the coop cool, unless you make a garden or sedum roof on top of it.

I’m assuming they mean the shade it provides

 

[C. Conner]

Metal isn’t any help to keep the coop cool, unless you make a garden or sedum roof on top of it.

We have hot summers in Texas. It keeps the chicken run cooler because of the shade. My secure chicken coop is attached to my chicken run.