Post pictures of your run

The ground behind the garage was sloping.
So I wheel barrowed about 30 loads of sand to make a level run from the sand pit behind my house.

The upright wood is 2x4 spruce that I treated with linseed oil a month before doing the construction
The wood on the ground is pressure treated 2x4’s.
The dark green bars are Steel T-Bars hammered into the ground. They are just for extra stability and strength in case of severe winds or black bears. They are tied to the run walls with 16G steel fencing wire.
The walls are 2x2 welded wire.
Buried underneath the sod, on the slope outside of the run, is 1/4 inch welded wire to prevent digging predators from entry. I secured that by hammering many 6 inch sod staples. Many bags of potting soil went over the sand and the 1/4 inch welded wire. Then the sod went over that, secured with just a few sod staples.
With just a bit of watering and fertilizer, the sod grew well and the whole area was secure and hands free in about 3 weeks.

The run and coop holds 10 Buff Orps.

 

See my BYC page. I may have overdone it, but I'm confident it is predator proof

 

I am in the same situation, only my DH is recuperating from a pinched nerve and my hens are in the coop. I have to let them out daily, so now I don't have a vegetable garden. Johny, you don't mind a wet run and how do you clean it since you can't walk into it?

 

My run is about 5' x 24'. The hardware cloth is burried 18" and its roofed with recycled tin. Still needing to add roosts or things to jump and play on. The hay bales and pvc panels are still in the garage to give shelter for winter, although we just got our first 6" of snow!
Good luck!


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That is a sharp looking coop/run...I'm jealous

 

check out my page
mine isn't really predator proof but I have a automatic door so that the chickens are protected.

 

Whatever you do, use 1/2-inch hardware cloth and fender washer with screws to attach it.
See My BYC Page for more descriptions.

 

Here's mine, it's 24' X24', with the coop, 8'X8' in one(NW) corner. I used 4X4 for the posts, 2X4 in the middle and top, and landscape timbers around the bottom. Chicken wire on all sides and the top, hardware cloth 2' up the sides and 2' out for an apron. Ther are some perches made with landscape timber scraps.
We haven't had any predator attacks yet, hoping the wire will slow them down if (when) they come. The girls are locked in every nite.
I'm embarassed ay the total cost, the first egg was LOTS more than $700!
mrkep

 

This is our run. We have welded wire all around, including on top of the entire run and hardware cloth all around the bottom and it is underground about a foot.