Run/ wood choice?

[R Wind]

Well, I'm calling the tall side the front, the short side the back. I personally wouldn't put the run off the front as you would be enclosing the man door. Doing so would require you to enter the run to access the coop, unless there's a man door on the backside.

TY (and for answer on predator apron). I was trying to figure out how runoff from the roof would give us problems under the lean-to but now, I think you meant if we attached a run further out from the lean-to roof, beyond the current lean-to area, of course all the rain from the roof would inundate the yard there.

(I meant we could put a fenced in yard totally under the lean-to roof. I expect we'll put a gutter on the low side of that lean-to when we get around to it, to collect water and put in an automatic waterer for the chickens. We have other rain water collections for the garden on other outbuilding roofs.)

 

[Acre4Me]

Just fyi on the roof runoff= chicken water. Can get diseases from wild birds this way (poop on the roof runs into water supply). But, biggest issue during HPAI transmission time

 

[Kiki]

TY (and for answer on predator apron). I was trying to figure out how runoff from the roof would give us problems under the lean-to but now, I think you meant if we attached a run further out from the lean-to roof, beyond the current lean-to area, of course all the rain from the roof would inundate the yard there.

(I meant we could put a fenced in yard totally under the lean-to roof. I expect we'll put a gutter on the low side of that lean-to when we get around to it, to collect water and put in an automatic waterer for the chickens. We have other rain water collections for the garden on other outbuilding roofs.)

Under that roof over hang on the left side of your picture ... That area looks smaller than your coop. You are going to want your run about twice the size of your coop.

 

[R Wind]

Just fyi on the roof runoff= chicken water. Can get diseases from wild birds this way (poop on the roof runs into water supply). But, biggest issue during HPAI transmission time

Thanks for that... I'd wondered, and we talked... If we use roof runoff we'll have to treat it. I don't know what all the diseases are yet. So we'll go slowly on water collection. ( I have two big chicken books, Harvey Ussery and I haven't learned the other author yet but quite like the book.)

 

[R Wind]

Under that roof over hang on the left side of your picture ... That area looks smaller than your coop. You are going to want your run about twice the size of your coop.

Good to know. We're hoping to create a much bigger run area, and also move them some into a covered tractor in the garden, but right now...

We were talking of an ultra secure attached and covered smaller run... accessible 24/7 off the coop for their food and water, independent access.

( The feeder and the waterer are in the coop for now, and take up floor space as well as being messy. Mainly I want to keep them safe as we can at night and on rainy days, while not confining them so much as the coop does. Call it their anteroom. And give the smaller one more space to get away.

The coop is I hope pretty secure, and 93" across the front wall, by 79" on that wall with the pop door. (So about 50 sq ft inside for 6 birds. )

The lean to is also about 6x8 sq ft. If we screen it in as is, it'll double their sq ft when they can't be out in the garden run or whatever other run we create with the help of the electric net.

If we roof over and panel in the area off the current pop door instead of the lean-to, I guess the size is dictated by the remaining two 3ft x 9 or 10ft metal roofing panels I have to work with. So not that different an area in size.

I think the decision needs to be made on which will be more secure.

For the new garden tractor, we just repaired a tubular greenhouse frame that got picked up and damaged by wind. I'm planning to beef it up, build end walls, find a shade cloth for the upper cover, and use wire on the lower section. Not sure about wheels or fixing it in place. But it's 10ft x20, so that should expand their horizon.

 

[Silexian]

I use cedar fence pickets to build birdhouses. There is a reason they are inexpensive. You will get varying thickness (often less than an inch, sometimes down to 5/8) out of the same stack of pickets. They have quite a few knots. Which is always a weak spot, that usually lands right where you need a fastener. In my opinion you would be better of buy 5/4 x 6 cedar deck planks. Since you want to make light weight panels. They are consistently 1 inch thick and cut from better grade logs. Making straighter, stronger lumber with less knots that is easier to work with. I would also use mortise and tenon joints instead of lap joints. Might as well cut a recess for your hardware cloth or welded wire. Instead of just fastening to the sides also. I have never regretted using higher quality materials and building something better in the first place.

 

[R Wind]

I use cedar fence pickets to build birdhouses. There is a reason they are inexpensive. You will get varying thickness (often less than an inch, sometimes down to 5/8) out of the same stack of pickets. They have quite a few knots. Which is always a weak spot, that usually lands right where you need a fastener. In my opinion you would be better of buy 5/4 x 6 cedar deck planks. Since you want to make light weight panels. They are consistently 1 inch thick and cut from better grade logs. Making straighter, stronger lumber with less knots that is easier to work with. I would also use mortise and tenon joints instead of lap joints. Might as well cut a recess for your hardware cloth or welded wire. Instead of just fastening to the sides also. I have never regretted using higher quality materials and building something better in the first place.

Appreciate the standards. Don't have the budget for the materials or the time for better joinery, if the sturdiness and security we require can be had otherwise.

For ripping out the battens in our coop, we were lucky to find a decent batch of thicker cedar pickets at HD -- heading towards 11/16 -- and were able to select enough pretty clean boards that we lost none from knots ripping. (I was surprised. Much better quality than what we see built into the pre-fab fence sections. )

We'll see what's available this time. My other alternative: I have a large stack of pretty decent double-sided fence sections saved from the neighbor cutting down their fence, but they're about 4ft square, more work when I'm aiming for 6ft panels. I also have a couple more decent pallets from heavy duty machinery. The one we cut in half to be the floor structure of the coop was 13ft plus long, and the boards were thick oak about 10inch wide. Not sure of the remaining long ones. We cut one in half lengthwise to make two garden benches in the greenhouse -- they survived the wind storm that destroyed the tubular frame. Will mull it over.

 

[Silexian]

Appreciate the standards. Don't have the budget for the materials or the time for better joinery, if the sturdiness and security we require can be had otherwise.

For ripping out the battens in our coop, we were lucky to find a decent batch of thicker cedar pickets at HD -- heading towards 11/16 -- and were able to select enough pretty clean boards that we lost none from knots ripping. (I was surprised. Much better quality than what we see built into the pre-fab fence sections. )

We'll see what's available this time. My other alternative: I have a large stack of pretty decent double-sided fence sections saved from the neighbor cutting down their fence, but they're about 4ft square, more work when I'm aiming for 6ft panels. I also have a couple more decent pallets from heavy duty machinery. The one we cut in half to be the floor structure of the coop was 13ft plus long, and the boards were thick oak about 10inch wide. Not sure of the remaining long ones. We cut one in half lengthwise to make two garden benches in the greenhouse -- they survived the wind storm that destroyed the tubular frame. Will mull it over.

Good find on the pickets. I am lucky enough to be close to a sawmill. I bought rough sawn oak to build my horse stalls and loafing area with. It was a considerable savings over normal lumber. It needs weathering proofing for outdoor use. It will also rot quickly if it has ground contact. It does take abuse well. Best of luck with your project.

 

[R Wind]

[ Replying to a post about cost of wood on one of my other threads (about the construction of the roof of our coop a few weeks ago)... since we're talking about wood costs and choices over here... thought I'd continue here instead of over there. Hope that is okay. -- R Wind ]

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@Rise722 wrote:
"Cheap boards? Where can I find some cheap boards? I need to replace some decking 2x6's and each one is anywhere from $40 to $75 each....I'm glad we finished the decks a few years ago, or I would never have been able to afford it! We have about 2,000 ft of decking, which goes all around the house, down below where there is a large "party deck" area, and then across the dirt bridge that forms the pond...that gets us over to the garden and chicken house. I can't even imagine what it would cost to build now. Oh, and I forgot to include the bridge at the north end of the pond...just that would probably cost thousands to build now...sad!"
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I'd be looking for "Found" used boards and hope to find something cosmetically useable -- watch frequently on FBMktplace for used or slightly used. But that'll pretty much be 1x and 2x4 and sometimes 4x4 posts for fencing. We also drove by a huge pile of not very old fencing out by the side of the street yesterday evening. Another source I've seen is big wooden crates -- I've seen several types, they'd have to be disassembled. Lots of plywood available that way.

But when we get up to 2x6's and above, it's going to be harder to find. I know I'll need bigger boards, too, as this is not my last project. Look for an independent sawyer, or start sawing your own (if you do wood working), I guess.

We did find some HUGE pallets at a nearby industrial park, again they were posted by the biz owner on FB mktplace. 13 to 14ft long, took 3 of us to get them into the back of the truck bed. BUT the boards were oak 1x10's, amazing. That's what we built the floor system of the coop out of - took one of those pallets and cut it into two across the middle, and put them side by side. Maybe I never put a photo of that?

Or go to a different material. I've got a small pile of old bed rails, for instance. And am going to collect more. They can be structural members; they are about 7ft. $5 at a junk place, and he says he can get lots. I need to go visit him monthly. It's a pain to drill holes through and cut, but not that bad, my better half is good at it.

I probably should have used them for enclosing the coop extension and further run or tractor we're about to build. Scab them together for longer runs? But I bought new cedar fence boards -- $140 for 40 of them, and am going to rip them into 1x3's or thereabouts, to sandwich the hardware cloth and make modular panels and even a screened door. (Hmm, I did not buy more 2x's for extra rafters at the edges under the lean-to roof, and if we need anything I may see if we can use those. Stay tuned. )

 

[R Wind]

Thanks for all the generous input into our questions about how to build a chicken run panel.

Finally got started building the modular chicken panels yesterday. Ripped some cedar pickets, pretty decent but not quite as thick as the previous batch.

We built a temporary jig for quick assembly on an old piece of plywood. Squared the first panel pieces up with a proper corner/strap tool, then replaced at all corners and joints with scrap pieces of wood. Photo included.

The joints are alternated butt overlapped and we are sandwiching the hardware cloth between two halves of the pickets. (If you see an overlap in the photo, underneath on the other side of the panel, the overlaps are on the opposite side. )

They're modular and the same panel size should also act as a ceiling or as any side piece, horizontal or vertical. The finished panels are a bit over 74" x 37"... max size with a 72" fence picket trimmed 1/8" at ends, and ripped down the middle.
We will build a bunch more today. Gotta get a slightly shorter screw. The tips of the 1 1/4" screws are just barely proud of the surface on the back side. But we're screwing from both sides anyway, so will replace with a shorter screw that doesn't protrude.

I did listen to those who said we should splurge on a heavier wood. But we keep in mind that we might be moving and need to move this with us. So everything we're building has that as a consideration. The hardware cloth reaches almost to the edge of that 2 3/4" trim piece so it's well-embedded and I hope a predator won't get thru that. If we feel the structure needs beefing up once assembled, we have various wood sources around here that we can beef up corners and joints and edges with, or some metal mending plates. Or overlap the panels at edges for more strength? (But that interferes with modular measurements if we want ceiling panels.) We'll see how it plays out.


Not sure if we'll make the people door a separate inset to one of the panels, or hinge a panel itself as a door. Will decide as we assemble a few what's the best idea. Doors will likely get some diagonal stiffeners. Stay tuned on that.

And we're still debating on the layout of where we're attaching to the coop. We plan to use at least one of the leftover pieces of used metal from the roof as a cover for a food and water area. The chickens also need a dust bath. This first area we're building is just to allow them to come and go from the coop independently. A staging area for whatever other run they have. We want it to be ultra secure.