Please Help An Idiot Out [My chicken run is a D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R (and my husband hates it)]

[Wisher1000]

I would suggest you add metal "T" posts to the inside. They drive into the ground and if you have or can borrow a post driver it is easy. A post driver is a metal pipe, filled solid on one end, sometimes with handles, that you slide over the top and lift up and let it slam down on the top of the post. If you put them inside the pen and drive them to below the top of the fence, they won't even show. Then you could reinforce the joints with more 2x2s or even 2x3s or 2x4s and attach the panels to the posts It wouldn't be wobbly then and you may only have to do the front section because afterall it is just to keep the chickens in, not to keep predators out. DH,

it looks great and he is just mad because you didn't need him to do it!

 

[erinszoo]

I don't think it's a disaster at all. You should be proud that you worked hard on it and it provides your chickens a place to run. What exactly does your husband not like?

 

[marianne7]

Oh THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH.

I feel so much better. I never thought that it was that ugly of an enclosure and I was really butthurt that the DH didn't agree.

I think I'm going to try to improve on this fence, even though I dread the amount of work it's going to be. lol.

Drag that husband of yours up, get him to help......lol

 

[J-Sanders]

You just need to add bracing and some more posts. At the gate hinge side put one post inside and one post outside to get very stiff bracing. The netting is just fine for your location. But be sure you don't have any transient predators, so keep a look out for signs of predator activity in your area. Make sure you predrill your screw holes with 2x2 lumber as it will split especially if you use bugle head screws. Get pan head types for holding lathe and predrill the wood.

Tell Sgt. Diplomacy that he should not run his gator if he is not willing to help. Unit cohesion is paramount! Or just keep telling him yes sir when ever he talks to you unless he is commissioned in which case just salute him every time he walks by... XD

Jim

 

[WRVgirl]

You just need to add bracing and some more posts. At the gate hinge side put one post inside and one post outside to get very stiff bracing. The netting is just fine for your location. But be sure you don't have any transient predators, so keep a look out for signs of predator activity in your area. Make sure you predrill your screw holes with 2x2 lumber as it will split especially if you use bugle head screws. Get pan head types for holding lathe and predrill the wood.

Tell Sgt. Diplomacy that he should not run his gator if he is not willing to help. Unit cohesion is paramount! Or just keep telling him yes sir when ever he talks to you unless he is commissioned in which case just salute him every time he walks by... XD

Jim

Bah. Does this mean I have to call him "Sir" too?

Before his recent promotion his nickname was Captain Obvious, but now that he's a Major, I haven't had time to make up a new nickname....and calling him Major Shithead seems wrong, even if he fits it to a T. LMAO.

 

[WRVgirl]

Thanks again everyone. DH has a bit of OCD so the fact that most of the posts were different sizes and the gate was crooked and the support spikes at the corners were about 2' higher than the 2x2x8s [because it was 100 degrees and I couldn't bring myself to mallet them any further into the ground] was messing with him. That, and I think he was in shock that my 1 coop had turned into 3

and my original "free range" idea had become less free range and more of a fence issue...He actually said last night at dinner as we were eating and watching the BOs chase each other around the pen that he just hadn't expected the 4 chickens we originally bought to turn into a whole show/breeding/hatching/building/spending operation in the back yard...and I understand that, but we've also been married 3 years...if he hadn't figured out that when I sink my teeth into a new hobby, I'm an all or nothing kind of girl =) then he really hasn't been paying attention to me these past couple of years.

We've come to the agreement over the past few days that we're going to move the fence to the back corner of the property and separate it into 2 areas [one for the SLWs and one for the BOs and Cochins and EEs and whatever else I decide to hatch out myself] This way, whatever aesthetic issues he has with the enclosure aren't right up in his face in the middle of the yard, and I can extend the pen larger if I put it in the back corner...so it's a win win for me. Plus I told him he'd have to help move it, I've already done it once, I'm not doing it again alone.

 

[Pozees]

It sounds like positive communication has begun between you, and that is important and helpful to both of you. I nest with a similar type, and nothing I do ever measures up. I have learned to accept this and we actually joke about it, and he has learned that most things don't have to be beyond perfect - missing a line when helping him cut the lawn, for example, probably won't result in the world coming to an end, and the fact I volunteer to do the sections he hates doing the most has reinforced the advantage to chilling out on issues of that nature.

As far as your run, many have offered suggestions which will be helpful, so moving, bracing, evening up/leveling and painting will all probably result in the outcome you seek. I personally think for a first build which you did on your own, it looks fine, and clearly has served its purpose. Once you are pretty sure it is permanently re-situated, a few inexpensive plastic pots filled with mums, lantana, or something else you like, can acquire fairly inexpensively, and doesn't need lots of special care, could dress up its appearance a bit and distract from any imperfections still visible. Heck, you can even put some potted tomato plants around it and serve the harvest to your flock. Another interesting technique I've seen is to plant large, rectangular trays or boxes with grass or low-growing thyme or mosses. If there is a plant your DH particularly likes, go with that.

In the end, you are accomplishing something, producing food for your family, a (hopefully) new source of income, learning more new things than you ever thought possible, getting exercise, spending time outdoors - there's a lot to be said for all that!

 

[OldGuy43]

That's the problem with officers. They are quick to criticize, and slow to get their hands dirty. I think it looks great. I'd be so proud of OldGal if she did something like that on her own.

Having said that my thanks to the Major for his service.

 

[duckinnut]

Having said that my thanks to the Major for his service.

X2



As far as the run goes, does it do its job?End of story. Tell him you were thinking about stringing Christmas lights on it too.Give me functionality over fashion any day of the week and twice on Sunday. If I had a say I would have gotten married in shorts and a sleeveless tee shirt with flipflops on my feet. It is not about the fashion,its about the function.

 

[ChicksinPR]

yeah... I think i feel you with the husband thing...lol

i think it looks great. I told my husband that I was going to build a coop and such... He knew what it 'might' look like so he took over the 'operation' and hired a team and lead the whole 'project'..lol

edit to remove TMI...lol