Run with or without top Please help!

[patandchickens]

IMO, if you live somewhere that never gets snow, and your run is small enough (as yours is), it almost always makes sense to cover it with at least a lightweight plastic netting (trellis, garden netting, deer fence, etc). Will only keep out hawks, but that's *something*.

If you live somewhere that gets snow, though, it's a much tougher decision. You might cover the run during the nonsnowy months but remove it for the winter; if you want the run covered in wintertime you will need to build something that will not get flattened nor ripped apart by the weight of snow (which can be much more considerable than people expect). It is not just a matter of what wire mesh to use, it is a matter of having sufficiently well supported by rafters or etc. So cost can become an issue.

If you want to keep out raccoons and other fourlegged predators you need WIRE, not plastic mesh, and it needs to be HEAVY GAUGE and well-welded. A lot of the 2x2 and 2x3 wire on the market is really pathetic stuff designed for gardens not for animal control; even some of the 2x4 stuff on the market (especially if you are buying it from like Home Depot rather than a feedstore) can also be excessivly flimsy. Raccoons are HEAVY if they get to dancin' around on the top of the run

and strong animals like raccoons or loose dogs can break the welds on some of the weenier welded-wire products.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[ECreech81]

I would Seriously reccomend a top after losing 7 of 10 chickens to predators.

 

[Rozzie]

x

 

[Citychick42]

thanks! We live in Ohio and we can sometimes get up to 18 in. of snow. We have the swingset (imagine a T) that is very sturdy. I was thinking we could go from the barn to the swingset (up) the down to the ground, kinda like an a-frame house. Really if we do that with heavy gaged wire we could probably cover it before snow comes but we have 5 days.

The run will be pretty big if we go out infront of the swingset. Also we arnt very good carpenters so that doesnt really help.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Build your run FENCE as well as possible, shutting the chickens into a secure coop before dusk; then chuck some netting over the run for now, and you have about 3 months to work on a snowproof top

If you are not experienced with carpentry etc you might consider posting pics of your setup to get suggestions on how exactly to frame out supports for a solid wire top for the run.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Citychick42]

thanks! i will post pics as soon as possible

 

[turtlebird]

I have a roof over my run and just love it. Shade, cover, protection from rain...and when winter comes, I wrap the run in clear plastic to keep the wind and snow out. What ever you do, lock them up tight at night!

 

[kateseidel]

We have cats, possums, and coons - although our hens free range during the day, at night they are in a coop, with a pop-door open to their small run (9x12). We enclosed the entire run in hardware cloth and everyone seems to sleep better at night! Our weather is very hot here (100 degrees) so I wanted the hens to have the option of getting outside the coop as necessary.

As you can see, we are not great carpenters either, but by spacing the framing 4' apart, it worked out great to just roll and attach 4' wide hardware cloth.