Run design...needing ideas

[Bennett Farms]

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

Yes I will be getting more chickens. As a matter of fact I have 6 more coming plus a rooster. The run will be expanded. I have another 22x6 going up.

I am glad you mantioned beefing up the run. The pop door I close at night after they have gone in. We are going around the perimeter to deter under digging. We are putting concrete under the door.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Bennett Farms]

Yes I will be getting more chickens. As a matter of fact I have 6 more coming plus a rooster. The run will be expanded. I have another 22x6 going up.

I am glad you mantioned beefing up the run. The pop door I close at night after they have gone in. We are going around the perimeter to deter under digging. We are putting concrete under the door.

Thanks for all the advice.

The sides are 6ft tall to the run.

 

[Dmontgomery]

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

Why does only the bottom portion of the run need to be welded/woven wire? Wouldn't the raccoons simply climb 1/2 way up to the thinner fencing and tear through it?

 

[Intheswamp]

Why does only the bottom portion of the run need to be welded/woven wire? Wouldn't the raccoons simply climb 1/2 way up to the thinner fencing and tear through it?

Well, as I mentioned in my post that would thwart dogs from chewing through. Coons could still get through the hc but at least the bottom will be protected from them (along with dogs). I agree that preferably the entire run would be covered with 2x4 wire with the hc only at the bottom.


But, I've harped on seeing so many runs and coop only use hardware cloth that I think I'm going to quit mentioning it's limitations. I started a thread regarding hardware cloth versus 2x4 fence wire but didn't get a whole lot of input or feedback to what I wrote. For some reason people have it in their minds that 1/2" hardware cloth will protect their chickens from most all predators...it just ain't so.

Anyhow, you are correct Dmontgomery, it would be better to have 2x4 fencing all around the run (and over it).

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Dmontgomery]

Well, as I mentioned in my post that would thwart dogs from chewing through.  Coons could still get through the hc but at least the bottom will be protected from them (along with dogs).  I agree that preferably the entire run would be covered with 2x4 wire with the hc only at the bottom. 


But, I've harped on seeing so many runs and coop only use hardware cloth that I think I'm going to quit mentioning it's limitations.  I started a thread regarding hardware cloth versus 2x4 fence wire but didn't get a whole lot of input or feedback to what I wrote.  For some reason people have it in their minds that 1/2" hardware cloth will protect their chickens from most all predators...it just ain't so.

Anyhow, you are correct Dmontgomery, it would be better to have 2x4 fencing all around the run (and over it).

Best wishes,
Ed

I read your other thread on HC and welded wire a couple weeks ago, and that's what got me to thinking about this topic. Then I kept seeing all you more experienced chicken folks only talking about the welded or woven wire on the bottom half. I remember that you and I both have the same basic environment to deal with. We both live in the hot, humid south and in very rural areas. So likely have the same predators. You may remember I have the 5 dogs who pretty much guard our property and so far, for the past 4 years, have kept raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and bobcats away. I know you don't have that added security anymore, sadly.
I only have chicken wire around the whole open air coop and run. I WAS confident this would be good enough, until last week. Our oldest son lives about 1/4 mile down the road and has 4 dogs. While he was selling some puppies, he put the adult parent dogs in our old now abandoned chicken coop. It too had just chicken wire and after a couple days, they had eaten a hole through it and got out. I really thought it would have cut their mouth or something, but it didn't. So now I'm concerned about his pit bulls getting loose and coming down here one night to get my birds.
I figure if I'm going to have to reinforce my coop anyway, I might as well splurge and protect more against the coons and possums too. Even though I am 99% sure we don't have any (knock on wood). Since cooler weather is coming, maybe, and I haven't done any coop renovations in nearly 2 months, it's time to get to work.

 

[Intheswamp]

D, my recommendation for the 2x4 along the bottom was simply to add some strength to the bottom of the OP's run due to it being only 1/2" HC....I figured this would help "some", not a cure-all by any means, though. Full 2x4 fencing, top and sides with an apron and 1/2" hc along the bottom of the sides would be the best. To enhance electric fence can be added.

Yes, the chicken wire is only good for keeping chickens contained. Coons and dogs can tear through it too easily. Something you might want to look into as a stop-gap for the time being is to run some electric fencing around the perimeter. Maybe a double strand around the bottom to create a "maze" for the dogs *or* coons to get through. Add to that a higher strand in close to the fencing. That would help. Even a strand several yards out from the run fence so that they may contact it before even getting to the run. The pits will be hard to deal with if they get started on the chickens....I would consider a hot wire somewhere at a distance from the run but between it and the direction they would come from....stop them well before they get in close proximity to the run. I think if they ever get into a kill frenzy that the fence will not stop them.

As for experience, nope, the only experience I have is close to a decade of studying and reading. No chickens, yet. Life has a way of throwing me curve balls which I adjust to....but the chicken part of my life has been a knuckle ball that I haven't been able to hit yet.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Dmontgomery]

I actually have access to some industrial gauge chain link fencing which I could use, but it takes several people to lift an 8' section of it. We built my son's dog run out of it last year. Unfortunately his male learned to scale the 7' tall enclosure after a couple weeks, so it has gone unused this summer.
I can't consider hot wire. I'd trip over it daily, my 4 year old grandson would try to play with it, and my father in law wouldn't be able to step over it.
My pit bulls usually keep my son's pit bulls in check when they come down here, but you never know what could happen I guess. His 2 adult dogs have gotten to the chickens before but did not hurt them, just ran around a little. Now he has 2 small puppies that have no experience with the birds yet. I'm a little worried what they may do if they get down here.
I'm much more likely to lose chickens while they are free ranging during the day, probably, so I count on my dogs to protect everything. Maybe I'm just hoping for too much.

 

[Intheswamp]

I actually have access to some industrial gauge chain link fencing which I could use, but it takes several people to lift an 8' section of it. We built my son's dog run out of it last year. Unfortunately his male learned to scale the 7' tall enclosure after a couple weeks, so it has gone unused this summer.
I can't consider hot wire. I'd trip over it daily, my 4 year old grandson would try to play with it, and my father in law wouldn't be able to step over it.
My pit bulls usually keep my son's pit bulls in check when they come down here, but you never know what could happen I guess. His 2 adult dogs have gotten to the chickens before but did not hurt them, just ran around a little. Now he has 2 small puppies that have no experience with the birds yet. I'm a little worried what they may do if they get down here.
I'm much more likely to lose chickens while they are free ranging during the day, probably, so I count on my dogs to protect everything. Maybe I'm just hoping for too much.

Man, that sounds like some bear-proof chain link!!!

Well, if you were to string a hot wire around the top of that dog pen it might stop the climber from getting out. If a hot wire can turn a bear it oughta turn a dog...oughta.

Sometimes we gotta work with what we've got, say a little prayer, and go on with things. Good or bad situations, it's how we react to them as to how we mentally deal with them. As the fellow said, "It is what it is...".

Best wishes,
Ed