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Chickenmoms

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We had 33 inches of snow. I cleaned off run 3 times yesterday but last night it fell down. It’s too cold to rebuild. Ground is frozen. Any ideas where I could buy a new walk in run for 13 babies. They are safe in my basement for now. I put tarps down and nesting boxes in. But really no way to put roosting bars
 

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I was gonna say, Producer's Pride makes a metal panel dog/chicken run. They have a lot of options. Pricey, but there it is. Also, you could always buy chain link panels (sold for construction or dog runs) from Tractor supply, rural king, etc. and connect them together with the clamps they make like you were making a dog run. The chain link will keep out large predators, but not small ones.

I feel for you. I lost one of my covered runs during a flood/storm, and 20 of my chickens were displaced. I kept them in my garage in XXL dog crates (Rural King) for 2-3 months. I ended up dispatching a few meat birds and selling a few hens, and I think 10-15 of them went back out into the newly rebuilt covered run. I kept them on pine shavings, with hanging food and water, and changed shavings twice a day. They ended up being the tamest chickens because I had to go in their crates so much for so long. I wrapped the bottom and 2/3 up each side of the crates with old feed bags, zip tied them in place, put the plastic tray inside into the bottom of the crates and filled it with shavings.

Cleanout was done using a standard dust pan as a scoop for all the litter - it went into a trash bag and into the compost or the trash. The birds just rested on the shavings at night, or I would put 2"x4" in there, and they'd perch on those. Just enough height to keep the butt out of the poop. For the smaller birds, branches shoved thru the sides of the crate allowed perching. Lots of zip ties to keep everything in place. I use those XXL crates for everything from brooders to hospital crates, etc. I connected two crates together long-wise and raised 25 CX to 4 weeks in them.
 
I was gonna say, Producer's Pride makes a metal panel dog/chicken run. They have a lot of options. Pricey, but there it is. Also, you could always buy chain link panels (sold for construction or dog runs) from Tractor supply, rural king, etc. and connect them together with the clamps they make like you were making a dog run. The chain link will keep out large predators, but not small ones.

I feel for you. I lost one of my covered runs during a flood/storm, and 20 of my chickens were displaced. I kept them in my garage in XXL dog crates (Rural King) for 2-3 months. I ended up dispatching a few meat birds and selling a few hens, and I think 10-15 of them went back out into the newly rebuilt covered run. I kept them on pine shavings, with hanging food and water, and changed shavings twice a day. They ended up being the tamest chickens because I had to go in their crates so much for so long. I wrapped the bottom and 2/3 up each side of the crates with old feed bags, zip tied them in place, put the plastic tray inside into the bottom of the crates and filled it with shavings.

Cleanout was done using a standard dust pan as a scoop for all the litter - it went into a trash bag and into the compost or the trash. The birds just rested on the shavings at night, or I would put 2"x4" in there, and they'd perch on those. Just enough height to keep the butt out of the poop. For the smaller birds, branches shoved thru the sides of the crate allowed perching. Lots of zip ties to keep everything in place. I use those XXL crates for everything from brooders to hospital crates, etc. I connected two crates together long-wise and raised 25 CX to 4 weeks in them.
Wow that might work. Right now they are in a 12x20 room on a tarp with lots of hay and I brought in their nesting boxes
 

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Wow that might work. Right now they are in a 12x20 room on a tarp with lots of hay and I brought in their nesting boxes
Note that if you go with the chain link panels, they don't support weight well. You'll need to go with a roof option(if you choose to have one) that has separate supports. Especially since you get snow. Or just don't put a roof on it, and you'll be fine. Some type of netting or widely spaced wire to deter halks may be fine as long as it doesn't collect snow (I think 1/2" hardware cloth openings are too close together).

The producer's pride panels are welded wire, so should be more durable, and some of their offerings come with a roof option.
 
It has regular coop wire with 1/8 inch mesh on top. I thought the snow would run off of it. I didn’t expect so much snow. We are due for 2-4 today and a big storm next weekend
 
I'd get you a couple of the XXL dog crates from Rural King and you'll be set. (48"L x 30" wide x 32" tall) 3-5 hens a crate plus hanging food and water should work great as short term housing. You can hang the feeder and water using carbiners and medium duty wire if needed. But you'll be changing a lot of shavings. Make sure you wear a dust mask.

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I'd get you a couple of the XXL dog crates from Rural King and you'll be set. (48"L x 30" wide x 32" tall) 3-5 hens a crate plus hanging food and water should work great as short term housing. You can hang the feeder and water using carbiners and medium duty wire if needed. But you'll be changing a lot of shavings. Make sure you wear a dust mask.

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Thank you. I always wear a mask because of copd
 

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