Yes exactly! Last year we happened to get torrential rains for 3 days straight. The run area got partially flooded. I added some wooden pieces for them to stand on where is was very puddley. You can see the 3 girls underneath the coop. Its definitelya great shelter...they enjoy the area underneath a lot. My Speckled Sussex is a wild child so she's walking around in the rain somewhere!
Oh I should mention you should add a tarp for rain or sun if it's not shaded/sheltered at all.
Any other questions just let me know!
@My Three Chicks Oh wow! What an awesome idea to add wooden pallets to the muddy area. I will definitely keep that in mind.
I have a lot of trees in my backyard, so I have plenty of shady spots that are away from direct sun. Only problem is that it's so shady that grass fails to grow there, so I'm not sure how happy my chickens will be to not have much grass to scratch up. I have some spots in my yard that get a lot of sun with grass that I suppose I could move the coop there sometime.
I also like the wooden step thing you have for their feeder. That is so cool. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to handle the feeder situation. I want to set it up so I don't have to worry about attracting rodents from spilled feed/open feeders.
Yes, but the little tarps that fit on the bottom sections under the coop and as long as the ground doesn’t get super saturated, they will go under the coop to hide from inclement weather. Also, do NOT expect the run to be predator proof. I watched rats go in thru the mesh and dig under the apron and eat all their food. Also it’s wide enough other predators can reach in and do damage. I hardware clothed the bottom 16in and I bought the extra run door to put under the coop so you don’t have to climb under it if needed. I had a very sick bird that was huddled in the back corner and would have been a PIA to get out without the door!
@kurby22 Thanks for this info! I plan to put hardware cloth all around the run, so hopefully it will deter most of the predators. Did you just put Hardware Cloth around the bottom half of the run, or did you do the top as well?
The run door is big enough for me to squeeze through, and I can actually sit down in there (which I plan to do so I can be with my chickens). I have too many hawks and crows in my area for me to let my chickens free range in my yard.
Unfortunately, my Eglu Cube did not come with a tarp like they used to. I called up the Omlet company and they said they no longer include them with the coops, so I went and bought some of the sun tarps, as well as the ones that wrap around the bottom part of the coop and run to help deter rain.
