Run design...needing ideas

Bennett Farms

In the Brooder
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This is my coop. I am wanting to ad a run to the back side.

You can see where they will come out to the run in the picture. I want it to be tall enough for me to walk into. Im looking for pictures for inspiration.

Thanks in advance.

I will covering the top as well.
 
I think your cheapest option would be a hoop house, modified to your needs. The arched roof is simple to build with flexible PVC or cattle panels and can be covered with a tarp.
 
I think your cheapest option would be a hoop house, modified to your needs. The arched roof is simple to build with flexible PVC or cattle panels and can be covered with a tarp.
Good Suggestion^^^
 
400


Heres what I ended up putting up. I have two chickens Gilley and Arya (you can see them in the picture)
400
and they have plenty of room. Its 15x6, I will be putting on a roof. However should I use something for a solid roof or wire?

I want to cover it to make sure they are safe.
 
Make the 1/2 near the coop a solid roof and the farther end wire. That way they can either get out of the rain or sunbathe, depending on the weather. Also allows for an outside area to place your feeder and waterer.
 
Make the 1/2 near the coop a solid roof and the farther end wire. That way they can either get out of the rain or sunbathe, depending on the weather. Also allows for an outside area to place your feeder and waterer.



Thanks for the input. Does the feed and water need to be outside with them? They can get in the coop where I have it. Do i need to move it outside so they have easier access or should I get another set for the outside?
 
It can be fine inside.....if it fits, they can take up a lot of room.
Keeping inside can reduce rodent/predator attraction.
Pros and cons to each.


I was going to get another water can for them once the roof went up.

The coop is 6x8 and there are two chickens. Still plenty of room. However you bring up a good point because I will be getting more ladys soon.

Maybe i should research the pvc type feed and water system for the run.

Thanks
 
From the dimensions that you've given and according to frequently quoted space requirements you have overall enough space for nine large fowl chickens. The limiting factor is the run space (90sqft) which limits you to nine LF chickens @ 10sqft per bird. The coop dimensions (48sqft) can handle twelve LF chickens @ 4sqft per bird. Going up to the max number of nine that the run can handle will leave some nice room in the coop for them (more space = happier chickens). Your setup looks good...it's fantastic for just two chickens! Something tells me "chicken math" might kick-in, though, so just try to stay below nine of them. :)

As aart said, any thing that takes up floor space inside the coop reduces the number of chickens that the coop can handle. Horizontal nipple waterers configured on pvc pipe take up little room and can be mounted close against a wall and can be designed to be filled from outside. If you use a droppings board you could position bucket feeders beneath the roost bars. Without a droppings board the area beneath the roosts may or may not be usable by the chickens. Or, you could do as you mentioned and look at the pvc pipe feeders.

Your covered run... Will you be locking up your chickens at night within the confines of the coop (closing the pop door)? If so, you might can bet by by using chicken wire or avian netting to block off hawks, falcons, etc.,. How tall are your side fences to your run? If the pop door will stay open into the run all of the time then you will need to use something heavier than that.

As for your run fence....in my opinion, it needs beefing up. Dogs and large raccoons will tear/chew through hardware cloth. If you were to get a 5-6 foot wide piece of 2x4 welded wire (or better yet, woven wire) fencing and cover the lower 3-4 feet of the sides while bending out an apron of 18"-24" horizontal to the ground you would thwart dogs chewing through and digging beneath the fence. The hardware cloth will turn most predators away but if you get a frenzied dog or a big old board coon that's excited over a chicken dinner, well, they'll go through the hc.

Going back to *if* you will be leaving the pop door open 24/7....I would only sleep good if I had 2x4 fencing covering the run with a sufficient apron extending out from the bottom of the fence and a hard threshold beneath any gate/door leading into the run (simply a heavy timber buried beneath the door with some apron wire extending outwards or either a trench dug and concrete poured into it). The area beneath gates can develop a large gap from simply walking on the ground there...it can get big enough that critters can easily crawl beneath it.

Best wishes,
Ed
 
Also... :)

It sounds like the run is 6' wide (correct?). Looking at the pictures it seems the walls aren't exceedingly tall...do you need more height than this inside the run? A couple of 2x4's laid across the fence header boards spanning the narrow dimension should hold up chicken wire / poultry netting with no problem and little sag if the height is ok. You could use hoop house construction to build your cover with to give you added head space.

One thing to be aware of with your current setup without a top on is that the chickens *might* see that top horizontal board and think it's a nice place to sit/roost....when they decide to come down from their lofty perch then it's a 50/50 decision on which side of the fence they hop down to.....inside the run or outside into the wild blue yonder.

Ed
 

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