Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Katt66]

Are there any safe ways you know of to keep snow out of the run? My one run isn't roofed and even the roofed one gets snow, which my chickens won't set foot in. On Friday I shoveled out most the snow and poured hot water over the remaining snow, but it wasn't the most efficient process and not all the water drained...

My run has a corrugated fiberglass roof. It's not very wide though so I put heavy plastic around all three exposed sides. Leaving a slight gap at the top for ventilation. This has done an incredible job of keeping all the snow and rain off the chickens this winter. This way they are not confined to the coop area alone but have the whole space in the run and under the coop as well. Basically it's turned the entire run into a greenhouse type coop. I then have roosts in various places running from one side to the other. The chickens happily wile away the worst weather hopping from roost to roost, basking in the sun and digging craters in the snow free floor.

It's no substitute for roaming the hard and nibbling grass and weeds all day. But it's far better than being confined to just the coop.

If I didn't have a roof on the run I'd have just put plastic or a couple of cheap tarps over the top as well. With a slight high spot in the middle of course to keep snow and rainwater from collecting there.

 

[Farmer Mike S]

My run has a corrugated fiberglass roof.  It's not very wide though so I put heavy plastic around all three exposed sides.  Leaving a slight gap at the top for ventilation.  This has done an incredible job of keeping all the snow and rain off the chickens this winter.  This way they are not confined to the coop area alone but have the whole space in the run and under the coop as well.  Basically it's turned the entire run into a greenhouse type coop.  I then have roosts in various places running from one side to the other.  The chickens happily wile away the worst weather hopping from roost to roost, basking in the sun and digging craters in the snow free floor.  

It's no substitute for roaming the hard and nibbling grass and weeds all day.  But it's far better than being confined to just the coop.  

If I didn't have a roof on the run I'd have just put plastic or a couple of cheap tarps over the top as well.  With a slight high spot in the middle of course to keep snow and rainwater from collecting there.  

I was thinking about doing a corrugated fiberglass roof... The reason why my run is roofless is because my run expansion was on a budget. My initial 8x8 combined run and coop ran me about $500 (I cut no corners in building this thing). The 8x8 run expansion costed me about $60. If I would of did a shingled roof (properly), it would have cost about $100 and I would of had a lot of left over materials. Now I'm thinking about going back and putting on a fiberglass or plastic roof that I feel would be a bit cheaper. Do you have any pictures of yours?

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Get OUT! Yup, me n Stake grew up there, I can't believe you're squirreling away chickens in Ridley Park! You're my hero.
Awww, Wing, that is just wrong. I've been near tears this morning (taped the game and watched it at 6am). Just doesn't seem fair, we've gotten so close. Someday. In the meantime, we are watching the Flyers get it done! Go FLYERS!

...sorry , but going to have to say...GO PENGUINS!!!

That's awesome! But the question comes to mind, how much stuff can you actually fit on the back of a motorcycle.... Lol.

You have got to talk to Motorcycle chick!!! She is the QUEEN of packing a bike!!!!

During the spring and summer I really hit the yardsales.If you ever see a guy hitting the yardsales on a motorcycle,its probably me.Picked up this ele.dog water bowl for 10cents this summer.So far water has not froze and stays cool and not warm.Real test coming up next couple days!

Now that is an awesome find!! We LOVE yard sales!!! We have turned so many pieces in to items others think are new

!!

 

[wingstone]

I covered one of my grow out pens with the clear greenhouse sheets,,,,,is working well and still lets in plenty of light....the sides are open but at this time of year I stack straw bales around the outside of the fence..doesn't sound like much but it seems to work....I have a few meaties in there now and they are doing fine in this weather

 

[Blarneyeggs]

 

This one is for Blarney.

I couldn't resist, and it is bird related.

ahem, you are going to force Blarney and me to come to you house...sit out front...and sing 'fly eagles fly' fight song at all hours of the night....

I AM THERE!!! Will u be bringing the hard cider?

Oh, and Wing...I sing off key. Also, I do the arm movements with the song, in case you have any neighbors you need to alienate.

 

[Katt66]

I was thinking about doing a corrugated fiberglass roof... The reason why my run is roofless is because my run expansion was on a budget. My initial 8x8 combined run and coop ran me about $500 (I cut no corners in building this thing). The 8x8 run expansion costed me about $60. If I would of did a shingled roof (properly), it would have cost about $100 and I would of had a lot of left over materials. Now I'm thinking about going back and putting on a fiberglass or plastic roof that I feel would be a bit cheaper. Do you have any pictures of yours?

I love the corrugated fiberglass. I was thinking of going with the transparent stuff because it would leave in a lot of light and make it even warmer and sunnier for the winter but I then had to consider how much of a heat box it would turn into for the summer. So I went with opaque white. So far I love how it's worked. So so much cheaper and lighter than shingles and plywood. I can't imagine why anybody would use anything else.
Here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago.


As you can see the coop and run are against a concrete retaining wall. On that side I didn't do anything but add a piece of plastic across the top of the run where the retaining wall ends. For the roof of the coop and run I've just got a 2X4 on end running longways across the front and back. Then put 2X2's every eighteen inches across the 2X4 rafters. With it being corrugated sitting on flat 2X2's I left the foam corrugated support pieces out when attaching to the ones across the top walls of the coop and the bottom edge of the run roof. This left me with a whole row of 1" wide spaces for ventilation.
The only thing I plan on adding is a rain gutter across the ends of the roof draining into a rain barrel. Hoping I can then use this to water the garden.

As far as the plastic goes, it is much much warmer in there than outside. Just with the wind blocked and the sun shining in. It's amazing what that plastic does.

 

[Katt66]

I covered one of my grow out pens with the clear greenhouse sheets,,,,,is working well and still lets in plenty of light....the sides are open but at this time of year I stack straw bales around the outside of the fence..doesn't sound like much but it seems to work....I have a few meaties in there now and they are doing fine in this weather

This
is my vegetable garden in more pleasant weather. It's 4X4's sunk 18" in to the ground, 2X4 top rails and 2high 5/4 decking boards for the base. Enclosed in livestock fencing. It's completely dog proof to keep my pit bull, Brittany, and German Shorthair from stealing tomatoes and digging holes. So I know it would be predator proof for chickens as well.
I am seriously considering trying to rig up some kind of temporary roof over it next fall after we take out all the spent vegetable plants. Then running plastic around the whole thing, putting a shelter of some kind and some roosts in and putting a couple of dozen meat birds in there. I think it would be a practical use of a non used space over the winter. AND I'd have a ton of free fertilizer and free tilling service provided by the chickens till we butcher them.
I'm just not sure how I'd put a roof on it. It's only about 3ft high. And I hate the thought of having to duck under the roofing to try and get at any of the birds in there. Though this would deter the kids from playing with their food and getting attached to the darn things. ^_^

What do y'all think? Would this be a good idea?

 

[Farmer Mike S]

I love the corrugated fiberglass. I was thinking of going with the transparent stuff because it would leave in a lot of light and make it even warmer and sunnier for the winter but I then had to consider how much of a heat box it would turn into for the summer. So I went with opaque white. So far I love how it's worked. So so much cheaper and lighter than shingles and plywood. I can't imagine why anybody would use anything else. Here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago. As you can see the coop and run are against a concrete retaining wall. On that side I didn't do anything but add a piece of plastic across the top of the run where the retaining wall ends. For the roof of the coop and run I've just got a 2X4 on end running longways across the front and back. Then put 2X2's every eighteen inches across the 2X4 rafters. With it being corrugated sitting on flat 2X2's I left the foam corrugated support pieces out when attaching to the ones across the top walls of the coop and the bottom edge of the run roof. This left me with a whole row of 1" wide spaces for ventilation. The only thing I plan on adding is a rain gutter across the ends of the roof draining into a rain barrel. Hoping I can then use this to water the garden. As far as the plastic goes, it is much much warmer in there than outside. Just with the wind blocked and the sun shining in. It's amazing what that plastic does.

Thanks for the picture and advice, you did a nice job with your coop! I never did the plastic on the sides because I was afraid it would be a bit "ghetto" looking, but it doesn't look bad at all. That's probably what I will do soon because the chickens don't go out at all if it snows. I probably will add either a fiberglass or plastic roof like I already said, but I'm thinking of coming up with a concept of an easily removable semi-permanent roof. The nice thing about having a completely open run is that in the summer it gets full sunlight and air. But then again if I did that the cost would probably run up and it would be one more thing to store. I attached some images of my coop and run in case you are a bit curious about what I'm working with. Of course right after I built my run I wished I had had made it bigger, but I'm sure we all having those moments lol. I feel it's sufficient for five chickens that get some time to free range.

You might notice it's not level with the coop in this picture, but I fixed that

 

[Katt66]

Thanks for the picture and advice, you did a nice job with your coop! I never did the plastic on the sides because I was afraid it would be a bit "ghetto" looking, but it doesn't look bad at all. That's probably what I will do soon because the chickens don't go out at all if it snows. I probably will add either a fiberglass or plastic roof like I already said, but I'm thinking of coming up with a concept of an easily removable semi-permanent roof. The nice thing about having a completely open run is that in the summer it gets full sunlight and air. But then again if I did that the cost would probably run up and it would be one more thing to store. I attached some images of my coop and run in case you are a bit curious about what I'm working with. Of course right after I built my run I wished I had had made it bigger, but I'm sure we all having those moments lol. I feel it's sufficient for five chickens that get some time to free range.



You might notice it's not level with the coop in this picture, but I fixed that

Very nice! And, yeah, that would be easy enough to put a roof on. If you built a little 2X4 frame and attached the corrugated fiberglass to that you'd be able to put it on and remove it when you want.

As far as the plastic, it being ghetto was a huge concern for us as well. I love my Aunt dearly but her multiple chicken "coops" and runs are enough to make me cry. Her layout reminds me of the Winchester Mansion. She's got little makeshift chicken coops and packing crates and plywood "things" thrown together in a hurry all over the place. With those metal electric fence stakes shoved into the ground here and there with chicken wire wrapped around them and draped over top and everyhing all zip tied together. Every time birds fight, she separates them and throws up another little makeshift run and box of some kind for a coop for the bullies or bullied. This spring we are going over there, ripping everything down and building her a proper coop. Big enough for everyone and a real run.
But, in the meantime, visions of her setup ran through our heads all the while we were planning and building our own coop. We wanted something neat and tastful and nice to look at but still big enough and practical. If you notice, the little elevated run area to the far left side in the picture I put up is a raised quail pen that we had to add on after we'd finished the coop. Literally the DAY we finished putting the fencing up on the coop and put our 2wk old chicks out in their new home for the first time, a friend of ours showed up with a dog kennel full of excess quail and chukkars he gotten somewhere. He put them in the coop and half of the immediately squeezed through the fencing and took off. We caught the remaining ones and as hasitly and tastefully as possible added that little "apartment" onto the main chicken coop.

Then a short few weeks later thanks to the wonderful magic of Chicken Math, our 3 to 5 pullets turned into 5 cockerels and 9 pullets. So we needed to expand the coop we'd been adamant on leaving exactly how we'd planned and built it. If you look on the ground just below the "Quail Apartment" on the left you'll notice a couple of post holes I'd dug before the ground froze with the intention of adding onto the run and extending it down to the chain link fence at the bottom of the yard. Then it got cold and enclosing the existing run became priority. So we took unfinished molding, stained it with the same water seal we'd used on the coop and carefully put the plastic up. We'll be able to remove it and re use the molding each year. Next year I plan on making some kind of brackets to slide the molding pieces into so we don't have to keep nailing or stapling them up each year and adding more and more holes to the 4X4 posts.

 

[wingstone]

Quote: I AM THERE!!! Will u be bringing the hard cider?

Oh, and Wing...I sing off key. Also, I do the arm movements with the song, in case you have any neighbors you need to alienate.
remember I am in eagles territory here.......most of my neighbors would join you.

Quote: this could work with a cover and small area for them to get out of the weather.