Roof run?

[deldeer]

Hi, I just expanded my run, I used 14ga wire for top, sides and exclusion around base. My question is should I put a roof over the run or maybe half the run? Right now I have tarps. I added a temporary coop until my birds can be mixed.

 

[Chicalina]

thats great! I've not long finished a covered run and my chickens love it! Not to mention its usefulness to house different groups at the moment while the babies grow up.

What is your weather like there? I live in the UK and it rains a lot, so this winter will really show me the benefit of having a dry run.

 

[Alaskan]

When I lived in Maryland we got heavy wet snow in winter... so a roofed run section for winter would be nice.

For summer, it is nice when it is super rainy, but isn't as needed. A dry run is more helpful if you have any chickens with feathered feet.

 

[Sally PB]

I bought a heavy duty tarp at TSC, the kind that is black on one side, silver on the other. I have the silver side out for summer, and then will turn it over to black side out for winter. So far it has stood up to the summer weather very well and was easy enough for me to zip tie it in place by myself. I plan to get another one, as this covers about 3/4 of the coop.

Given my druthers, though, I'd rather have a roof. It just won't work with the run set up we have at the moment, and a tarp works very well.

 

[3KillerBs]

My in-town setup had a roof over half the run. I liked that arrangement because I had a sheltered place outside to keep the feed and water and the chickens could choose how much sun they wanted to experience at any given time.