Hi everyone!
I am a complete building newbie, unfortunately. I have an eglu cube, which is fine for my 4 chickens, but the run is too small, so I am planning to build a walk-in run to attach the Cube to. I am in San Francisco (so winter lows are maybe in the 20s) and we have lots of raccoons, possums, skunks, hawks, and dogs to protect our flock against.
I have a 6' x 12' footprint to build the run in (already have the base of the run built, with base rock and then sand in there), and planning to make it 6" tall:
But of course this 4' by 10' Eglu run is too small (especially the door) and so I want to build a run that I will be able to walk into. This is the sort of run that I would love to have:
(I would just order from this company but they are in the UK, so I have to try to build one instead.)
So, having no building experience whatsover, I am hoping to ask some humble questions of the knowledgeable people on this site:
1. It seems like I can just use hardware cloth panels to construct most of the run. Should I use 1x2 wood to build the frame, and then staple the hardware cloth to the wood? I'm thinking of mostly 3' x3' frames, but maybe 3' x 6' frames with a crosspost in the middle would be enough (like below?)?
2. Can I just screw the panels of hardware cloth together to build the run? Do I need extra support posts? I'm planning to sink some 4x4 in each corner in some cement, but do I need some along the 12' edge of the run too?
Thanks for any advice!
I am a complete building newbie, unfortunately. I have an eglu cube, which is fine for my 4 chickens, but the run is too small, so I am planning to build a walk-in run to attach the Cube to. I am in San Francisco (so winter lows are maybe in the 20s) and we have lots of raccoons, possums, skunks, hawks, and dogs to protect our flock against.
I have a 6' x 12' footprint to build the run in (already have the base of the run built, with base rock and then sand in there), and planning to make it 6" tall:
But of course this 4' by 10' Eglu run is too small (especially the door) and so I want to build a run that I will be able to walk into. This is the sort of run that I would love to have:
(I would just order from this company but they are in the UK, so I have to try to build one instead.)
So, having no building experience whatsover, I am hoping to ask some humble questions of the knowledgeable people on this site:
1. It seems like I can just use hardware cloth panels to construct most of the run. Should I use 1x2 wood to build the frame, and then staple the hardware cloth to the wood? I'm thinking of mostly 3' x3' frames, but maybe 3' x 6' frames with a crosspost in the middle would be enough (like below?)?
2. Can I just screw the panels of hardware cloth together to build the run? Do I need extra support posts? I'm planning to sink some 4x4 in each corner in some cement, but do I need some along the 12' edge of the run too?
Thanks for any advice!
