PLEASE CRITIQUE!!!!!!! my run design!!!!

[Guitartists]

Made from posts and 8' 2"x4"s. Covered with 1/2" 60"wide hardware cloth.

Most all of my birds are around the same age. I'm going to try and run them all together and see how it goes. If I have problems I will seperate the bantams from the big guys

See any issues? Anything I should consider doing????

By the way... none of this is DRAWN to SCALE... LOL I'm an artist... not a draftsman!

 

[paisleycj]

Looks like it should work fine. I'd suggest laying the top 2X4's on their sides to help prevent sagging.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Why not try putting the bantam coop at one end of the big run & dividing the run so they are totally separated? The banties being with the big guys will work for a little while, until the big roos kill the little roos or the big roos try to breed the banty hens.

Even with my gentle Brahmas--I had to separate my sultan banty hen from them because they were really hurting her.

 

[Davaroo]

Equibling has a good idea about separating the breeds.

My other questions, my usual "broken record" commetns are these:

How many birds are you going to keep?
Is this a permanent siting, or intended to move periodically?
How are you disposed to manage the dust, waste and filth of confined birds?

The technology and engineering of chicken rearing tends to overpower the more practical (and critical) concerns of confinement for most people.

 

[patandchickens]

Looks generally fine to me, depending of course on how many chickens. Just a couple thoughts:

Make sure there's an eavestrough and downspout on the side of the coop where the roof slopes towards the run, otherwise you'll make a mudpit right next to the coop.

Have you thought about making the whole run 5' high. It will not be THAT much more expensive, and the difference to you, the chickenkeeper, will be HUGE. Think about what it will be like, with a primarily 3' high run, every time you have to go in there to clean up, level holes, retrieve things, spread sand or woodchips, etcetera. Oy! Make it taller. Really

Also I agree it would make more sense to give the banties their own run from the get-go, or at least have things designed so you just need to tack up one panel of wire to cordon off a run for them if required.

Have fun,

Pat

 

[Guitartists]

I can easily move the bantam pen and build another run eventually if needed... or put a divider in the run.

I thought about putting it at the end... but there in NO shade there. I want it under the tree where the big coop is as it stays cool even in this heat we have been having.

This is a fixed location, but the run is just until next year when I can afford to expand. I will have probably 12 standards in the shed and about 9 bantams. This is just my first coop/run. Next spring I will be changing it up

But the shed and the main run will stay where they are.

The shed has big double doors, the bantam coop will open in the back, the run will have a door at the tall part and a door at the very end that will allow for raking, cleaning, etc. It's no different than any other coop/run in that respect.

Elderoo... have I overlooked something that YOU see? I didn't detail the coops because they are not a part of the run project laid out... but maybe you see something I don't????

 

[Guitartists]

Well, I am working within a budget... but I am putting it together as such that it will not be difficult to expand next spring. This is just to get it rolling.

Yeah, I am still trying to figure out the best way to do the eavestrough. I'll figure it out when we get there

I am still debating whether or not to split the run. Next spring I will move the bantam coop and make them a run of their own. They are all pretty much young and close in age and being reared together. They won't even be a year old next spring when I expand.

 

[Guitartists]

I only have 150' of cloth to work with...... I will have to see what I have left over to work with

 

[Davaroo]

Elderoo... have I overlooked something that YOU see? I didn't detail the coops because they are not a part of the run project laid out... but maybe you see something I don't????

I don't want to be perceived as critical here, my friend. But I see the same potential for problems everyone else happily accepts as "normal":

What I observe is a permanent siting on a tightly enclosed area, with little to no option for alternating and refreshing the areas where the chickens are to be kept. Day after day, age after age, the same birds to be kept in the same space. It's typical, even normal.... and the root of many problems at the outset.

Sere and moonscape spaces along with waste management obsessions and "schemes" soon follow this method. Bags of lime and DE and coffers will be emptied keeping up with it all.
Needlessly, I'd like to add, as it's a self-imposed problem. I have yet to deal with any of these things, because I have tried to beat them at the gate.

So, I am considered a reluctant "crank." No secret there.

For a normal setup, it looks like you have things well in hand. Wanna have a go at something different?
Read this before you commit to your plans:

http://www.archive.org/details/eggfarmingincali00weekrich​

 

[Guitartists]

The coop is currently not here..... so I have no choice but to set up a run. We plan to purchase the house from his dad in the next year or so...... once that happens... it'll be FREERANGE chickies!

But, I cannot be there all day everyday now to watch them.... so a run it is

Plus, it will be handy later on for this or that

I agree.... it is not the very best of arrangements, but, I am only looking for do-able and fair at the moment