Run questions

[Hypnotist_Collectr]

We're getting ready to build our chicken run this weekend & I had a few questions...
We have 6 birds. The coop is 4x8 and 6 foot tall. How big should the run be? When they say 10 feet per bird, does that include the housing, too, or just the run? We were thinking about doing a 4x8, but maybe a 4x12 would be better? We want to built it to the width of the house we already have in place... either that, or plan to expand on the other side of the coop for another run, in the future?
Also, I am seeing a lot of really nice runs out there, that look like they didn't use treated wood, but were painted... how long would those last, or should we just get the treated kind?
Thanks!

 

[Mahonri]

I think treated wood will save you in the long run.

Run Sq footage is for the run, not both run & coop.

Make it bigger, you'll want more chickens, I promise.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
How "big" in the run? 87.12 sq ft per bird as a minimum is ideal. With this much space the earth itself will absorb much of the impact of their droppings and excavating.

Anything smaller, and you become a waste manager as part of your chickeneering efforts. 10 sq. feet per bird is a compromise, based on the dogma that waste is an intrinsic part of the experience. It is influenced by the commercial practices of the last 50 years. Seldom is it mentioned anymore, in our glee to "have chickens" that chickens are toxic when confined. It is one of those things we have forgotten, or simply accept as "normal."

I shun the notion, myself. I have a well-drained area 50 x 50 for a run. It is covered in low growth and shrubs. There is a small grape arbor, as well. These things provide cover and shade for the birds as well as the comfort of perceived protection - they are all originally jungle fowl, after all.

According to the math, I can have 28.69 birds in there - but I will not. I will halve that. And I will never have to lime, mulch, scrape or rake poo, wrinkle my nose, deal with flies or funk, etc. Conversely, the birds will not denude or exhibit much of an impact on the space.

My point is, that the smaller you make their confined living spaces the more you will learn the bad side of chickens. Give them more room and the experience edges into the sublime.

If you do not wish to use treated posts, you must get something rot resistant like cedar, locust or redwood - which are all costly. Do as Mahonri says, which is very good advice all around.

 

[MIKE555444]

Depending on how many birds per s/f will determine run quality. Think larger

 

[Judy]

You have gotten excellent advice here. My yard is also far from denuded.

 

[patandchickens]

Especially if it will be a good-sized run, I would really suggest pressure-treated wood for anything in contact with the ground. Regular wood will rot out REAL REAL fast unless you are in a super arid climage; even 'rot resistant' wood like cedar or redwood won't last near as well as pressure-treated. I think it is reasonable to try to reduce one's use of it as much as possible, but fenceposts and other ground-contact wood, for structures you don't want to have to rebuild in a few years when something pushes the now-rotted construction over in a heap, I think it is really quite justifiable to use pressure-treated wood. I know of no credible reason to believe it will be of any harm whatsoever to the chickens - and I am generally pretty careful about chemicals in the environment, I don't eve own any herbicides or other pesticides other than mite powder for the chickens.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Hypnotist_Collectr]

Thanks guys. I am actually trying to figure out exactly HOW to build a run right now... Hoping it won't be the fiasco that building the coop has been.

I am thinking I'll have it going 12 feet to the side of my coop and 6 back.... That's 12 feet per bird...we built it near a huge oak tree, and it prevents us from going too far back.... There's also a pear tree that prevents us from going forward with it. Yikes. I just measured and we can squeeze a 8x12 back there, but it'll be pushing it...

As far as materials go, I am trying to figure that out right now. How many inches apart are the supports supposed to be for the walls? I know when you build a building it is supposed to be 16, but I am noticing huge spaces in you guys'... I am not sure how far apart you guys' are.....
I want something that looks like this :

Right now, they are still in my house (hubby went out of town for weeks, and I can't build it myself!) So, we're wanting to do it tomorrow to get these girls out of my house! I am sure they will love any extra room they'll have! If it is too crowded, we can always add another "yard" on the other side of the coop... it just gets so hot here (got up to 115 2 days ago!) so, we wanted the shade of the tree and built it w/o thinking too much about space in the run. The other side of the yard is all dirt and weeds and in the sun alllll day long, so that's why we didn't choose it. Too bad we can't move the coop a few feet over!

Thus far, they are 15 weeks old, and still in the house, and haven't really picked on each other at all... so, I am hoping this will be okay. I feel like they will think they moved into a palace once they get out there.

Anyway, thanks for all of your insight!

 

[patandchickens]

That's, ah, a somewhat overengineered run structure compared to what is *necessary*, unless they're in a high snow load climate in which case I think it is insane to have such a flat roof anyhow and the purlins and rafters are probably *underbuilt* for heavy snow

You probably don't want to copy it exactly.

Are you going to roof your run? If you are, the main factor determining what size and spacing to use for the posts is what's necessary to safely carry the roof and its support structure (see below). But if you are not going to roof the run, all it has to do is hold the wire run sides up and not fall over; which is less of a task in most situations. It depends somewhat on what kind of wire you're going to be using for the pen sides, but if it will be 1x1 heavy gauge wire mesh (which is what the pictured run looks like, to me) then I would say 6' spacing would work well for you, so that's all the corners plus an extra line post halfway down the long sides, using all p/t 4x4's. Connect them at top and bottom for strength/rigidity and to give you something to attach the wire firmly to. That's still a *strongly built* run I'm describing, and it's possible to go weeblier without being grossly weebly, but IMO, why.

If you DO want a roof on your run, you need to determine what support structure it needs, just like you would for the roof of a coop or shed (and esssentially you will be building a wall-less shed, for a rooffed run). Whether or not you get snow will matter. There are engineering tables readily available, or frankly just get a book with simple shed plans (or simply look around at sheds people've built in your area that've stood up for 10 yrs or more). There are multiple ways of doing it.

But if you do decide to roof the run, make sure to put some sort of pitch on it, at LEAST an inch in a foot and preferably more. It really does not take any meaningfully more material to put noticeable pitch on a roof and it will make it a lot more waterproof and durable. And if your climate or soil or location makes it likely that it'll be important to keep your run dryish, I'd recommend installing a gutter and downspout at the same time as you build the run roof, it's easier than trying to retrofit it to a structure never designed for it.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Hypnotist_Collectr]

Thanks Pat.
We do want a roof, as it is underneath an oak tree that drops leaves and acorns nonstop... we also have a family of turkey vultures that swarm around our property. (We're near a freeway and a creek, so i think they are mostly after road kill and nest at the creek... but, one did swoop down at me while I was trimming some branches of the tree. Scary! I think it thought I was a bird.)
We were thinking a corrugated roof would be nice... something light-weight that we'd be able to push the leaves and acorns off of, as needed. We were going to do a slope, as sometimes it rains a bit here.
I know the run pictured is a little overdone... but, so is our coop, hahaha. (See my BYC page.) You don't even want to see inside... everyone is making fun of me.

But, anyway, I think what we'll do is buy the mesh, and then space the "supports" where we won't be cutting too much of that stuff. I tell you, my hands and arms suffered some battle wounds from that stuff!
Davaroo said

87.12 sq ft per bird as a minimum is ideal.

Wow... That'd be almost my entire backyard! No way is that possible for me... As I said, my poor girls are still in their brooder, and they get along fine... I think a 8x12 pen + a 4x8 house will be good for them... if I notice any pecking, of course, we'll enlarge it...
We want to build the kids a playhouse near the coop, and continue with the Old West theme, so maybe we'll knock out a section of the wall, and have a run in between the playhouse and coop, if they start fighting.

 

[Bigdaddy101]

I included an oak tree in one of my runs. I just stappled the metal fabric t the tree and the Bared Rocks love it. The base tends to hold all kinds of worms.
Now please think about treated material. Yes it will last longer, but depending upon what it is treated with it may contaiminate the soil with dangerous chemicals. Yes the birds will likely be pecking and dust bathing in the soil, a natrual weather and insect resistant lumber may be a better choice. You could use cedar, oak, or others. Just a thought.