Roofing choices for covered run?

[chickyturkeyemulady]

I spent years with my coops covered in mesh and shade cloth. It was ok, but could be a mess when it rained. Then I redid things with corrugated metal about 9 years ago. I love it! The floors stay dry in winter (unless we get the sideways rain on a really windy day) and my birds stay a whole lot cooler on hot summer days. I live where it is typically in high 80s to mid 90s in the summer with occasional days of 100-115. BTW, my chickens and turkeys would never allow plants to grow inside their coops, so sunlight for plants is a non-issue. There are trees and shrubs out in their big daytime yard, but NOTHING grows inside their coops

 

[MaryJanet]

You mean like a Chunnel? We have a large barn fan in their covered run. We live in the woods and the trees block most of our breeze unfortunately

Oh, well if there's no natural breeze, building a breezeway would be a waste of time and materials.

It works well at my place because there's almost always an afternoon sea breeze.

 

[TaylorGlade]

Oh, well if there's no natural breeze, building a breezeway would be a waste of time and materials.

It works well at my place because there's almost always an afternoon sea breeze.

They do like the fan though! They hang around it all day in the summer

 

[BonnieBlue]

I have a completely covered run, and used an opaque (gray) poly. Because of the heat (south Louisiana, so much like you in Florida), I did not want to use clear because of the radiant heat from the sun. The girls get enough sun in the morning since the east side is open. The north, west, and part of the south sides are enclosed, just because of in the corner against a stockade fence was the only place I had in my small yard to place a run. In addition, I wanted to make sound barriers to help make the chicken noises quite so noticeable to neighbors, plus help with the heat on the roof, so I put a layer of reflective particle board under the poly. The temperature stays shade temps even in the hottest part of summer. (I have sound barrier walls on the north and west sides also.) To help with ventilation and air circulation, I have a large wet rated oscillating fan blowing into the coop. So far, everyone is happy and healthy.

 

[chicken1234]

We are building a new coop right now and the run will be covered in tin again. We are using one pitch so it gets lots of light. We have the poly on our greenhouse and I find after a few years it cracks or depending on where you are...we had a hail storm and it put holes right through it. If you want plants you could put them on the outside of your run.

 

[Racsan]

I would worry about the clear poly turning the run into a hot greenhouse, with mine I have a 8x22 4’ high kennel run with bigger kennel panels on it as a roof- mostly as protection from hawks & eagles. the first 6 ft from the chicken house is covered for shade & rain (the feeder hangs under that area too) With your design Id go with galvanized metal panels . Id like to do something similar eventually or use 16’ hog panels in a big arch. A walk-in run is a good thing, I have to be bent over to enter mine.

 

[BDutch]

We are buying chain link panels and making a run and coop that will be 28' x 7' Over the chain link at one end we are putting three walls. The back wall will be solid and have our nesting boxes open to us from outside the coop and run. The two side walls will have storm shutter style windows that will open to the chain link so air can flow in hot weather. I'm still seriously considering planting a tree in part of this run so roofing may not cover the entire run... however we do want roofing over a large portion of the run and coop for shade. I had thought of the corregated metal for roofing but I'm concerned it will heat the run and coop up too much. My husband suggested we paint it white which I'm sure will help but I'm wondering do any of you have suggestions for other roofing material for such a large run/coop area that will mostly be chain link panels.

What certainly works great against heat in my country is a sedum or grass roof with EPDM underneath.
But it costs a bit of course.

A cheaper solution is some-kind of wood (or water resistant panels) with a thin roofing material on top, you can glue this on the wood / panels. You need an angle of at least 10% depending on your climate, the material and the construction.

If you only use wood like cedar (WRC) you need a larger angle, need to overlap the slats, or use special slats. Pine needs a much larger overlap and maybe a 45° roof.

Please add your location in your profile.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

We are buying chain link panels and making a run and coop that will be 28' x 7' Over the chain link at one end we are putting three walls. The back wall will be solid and have our nesting boxes open to us from outside the coop and run. The two side walls will have storm shutter style windows that will open to the chain link so air can flow in hot weather. I'm still seriously considering planting a tree in part of this run so roofing may not cover the entire run... however we do want roofing over a large portion of the run and coop for shade. I had thought of the corregated metal for roofing but I'm concerned it will heat the run and coop up too much. My husband suggested we paint it white which I'm sure will help but I'm wondering do any of you have suggestions for other roofing material for such a large run/coop area that will mostly be chain link panels.

A 7' width would allow you to span the top with "cattle panels" attached at either end to the chain link upper bar. Then cover that with either plastic or canvas tarp or nylon shade cloth. The arch, under tension, provides lots of support, with some flex for wind loads. You will need metal wire or bands to make the connection.

Essentially, a "hoop coop" supported at the top of your fencing.

Be aware, however, that doing so will put constant pressure on the top rail, wanting to force it "out" from the center line of your run, while the height off the ground is a lever, magnifying that force down the posts. Use lots of concrete, and an extra foot of burial depth isn't a bad idea. You could also use a tension wire across, though you would then have to dodge it every time you walked thru.

Doing so will give you a height at the center about 6 1/3' above the top rails, making it feel quite roomy in the center. You could also shorten the cattle panels, reducing the arch, but at some point, the arch becomes so shallow that wind or other loads could cause it to invert. I'm not doing those calculations, and not sure the extra labor is worth it, but taking 2-3' length off each cattle panel should be fine based on some back of napkin math. Basically, use some heavy duty zip ties to hold your first panel in place - lots of them - to mock up the final product, then push on it a bunch of times to see how it bows and flexes against a horizontal load.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Just tossing an idea out.