Plastic Wrapped Runs???

[frog522]

Is greenhouse plastic different than painter's plastic?

I've used painter's plastic (still currently using it, two layers of 6-mil each) and it degrades pretty quickly. First tears/cracks appear after 2.5 months and by 6 or 7 months the whole plastic breaks off into messy flakes. I guess sunlight denatures the plastic and makes it extremely brittle. Because of this breakdown, I plan to replace the plastic every 4 months. Are there any types of clear plastic that last longer??

 

[welasharon]

I used 6 mil plastic from the hardware store and had a very difficult time pulling it off after the winter.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Why do you need plastic in CA?

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Yeah....I don't want to riddle my run posts with 1,000 staples, either....

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I'm going to go & look at Home Depot tomorrow and see what they have.....

 

[ChooksChick]

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Look in the construction plastic vs. the dropcloth section and use the 6 mil if you get any kind of wind at all. You can use the little zip ties and double-fold it where you fasten it. I poke 2 holes through the doubled part with needle-nose pliers, so the holes aren't sharp and won't tear.

I put it along the ground on one side of the fencing and run it over the fencing, across the run, and then back down the other side, forming a tunnel attached to the coop at one end. I hold up the middle with a 'T' made out of a 2" x4" in a bucket of sand with another one screwed to the top of it (lame, I know, but it works).

It makes a huge difference in the chickens' comfort in a cold, windy area, and gives them a dry place to hang out, snow/ice-free.

ETA: They have big rolls of the 12' x 100' clear 6 mil at Wally World, too.

 

[wolftracks]

Quote:
Why do you need plastic in CA?

It gets cold and wet and the winds are aweful. I've been looking for plastic also. One reason being I am trying to grow veggies in winter. We'll see how that goes. LOL The other reason is the birds, I'm actually away from the Bay Area for the first time in my life, but it's so flat in the Valley that the wind just takes over. And I moved out here for the heat. hehe I loved the Bay and if I could afford to live there again I probably would. As long as I could have all the animals I wanted. hmmmmm where would that be. The wind anfd cold off the Bay was freezing me to the bone, I used to spend summers in Auburn (WA) snd we moved there for a very very short time, and for the life of me it was winter and I don't remember it being that cold. I was young though so might explain it.I lost a couple of birds to the cold last year. Just from being in the run. The wind was so strong and it was so wet out they got chilled. Having a hard time finding plastic I can afford.

 

[gale65]

Am I missing something? We live in a fairly cold area (sometimes below zero, but mostly above but still dang cold) and we aren't planning to wrap the run. In fact, we've been looking at other peoples' coops around here since deciding to get chickens a couple of years ago and have never seen any wrapped in the winter. When I raised chickens a long time ago the run wasn't wrapped then either (but then again that run was made of chicken wire and had no roof but somehow I never lost any chickens to predators).

 

[CapricornFarm]

tried shower curtain liners last winter, but the goats ripped them so I am trying to keep them out of Chicken City this winter. I have a coop someone made and swapped me for chickens, the one side is all wire and about 6' high so it can get chilly. I am going to see if I can find some 6 ml plastic this year .

 

[Frithest]

I've been looking online for clear plastic tarps to wrap our all-in-one coop-plus-run in, on a windy corner. I found plenty of folks who will sell you 100' of plastic sheeting, but like others have said, if you staple it, you end up with a run covered in staple holes after a few years. My DH is a former sailor and we talked about putting grommets into canvas and using the attachments that connect covers to boats etc. to attach the tarp to the sides of our coop. I found these tarps online, from a place in TX:
http://www.cleartarps.net/

They look like a ripstop plastic tarp with grommets installed already. If the dimensions matched your coop you could bungee them in place - no more staples.