Should I cover my run?

[annie3001]

Quote:
hey is that one of those plastic owls? is that used to scare off the real ones? just wondering? i am wondering if that works, or invites trouble?

 

[elmo]

There are different kinds of cover. I had one run covered with a corrugated polycarb panel roof, and another run covered only with hardware cloth. After using both, I much prefer the roofed run, since it provides not only shade but protection from rain, meaning the run doesn't get muddy nor do the chickens get wet in a rainstorm. I roofed my other run this spring, but it was harder to retrofit than building it from scratch with a slanted design so rain would run off the roof.

A roofed run is better, in my opinion.

 

[sbrown1414]

Ok, you all have convinced me. I will cover the run. We should have the coop done by the end of the week and hopefully we will get it painted this weekend (unless it rains). My babies will be two weeks old on Wednesday, so that will give us a few weeks to get it figured out how we are going to attach a cover on such a wide run to wood and metal both. I just don't think I would feel comfortable leaving them ih an uncovered run. I only work four hours a day, but I really want to be able to let them out first thing in the morning without worrying the whole time I'm at work. Thanks for the advice!

I cannot believe how attached I've gotten to the little girls, even after a week and a half! I love this website! I've gotten so many great ideas for my coop!

 

[sunflowerenvy]

i would put cover over the pen too i would used hardware cloth to cover the pen or chain link so the rain or snow could go thought it. when i used to have a chicken coop in florida we used chicken wire and the follow spring the hawks broken the wire n we found a hawk in the pen and raccoons too. if you used a soild roof make sure it can stand wet snow on it. i saw metal roof bend in half in tenn this pass winter
laura

 

[ksct]

Quote:
hey is that one of those plastic owls? is that used to scare off the real ones? just wondering? i am wondering if that works, or invites trouble?

I can't tell you exactly what it is used to scare away..... DH HAD to have one for the coop and the garden... Knock on wood..... the hawks we've had 'hovering' over the yard (we have 6 acres) haven't given the coop a second look.....

 

[newchicksnducks]

I didn't cover my run. At 6' tall and about 25x35, I didn't think we needed it. Worked fine for 6 months or so. Then one winter day, you could see the tracks where a fox paced back and forth around the run, then CLIMBED the 6' fence, went inside and killed one of my BO. He tried to drag her to the fence, but she was too heavy. He was gone after a quick partial meal. Then two days later a small hawk came down and got one of my EE's! I now have deer netting on top, but the girls were on house arrest till the end of March! I'll be replacing the netting this summer with sturdy welded wire and partial hard roofing for winter time. The hard roofing will help keep an area somewhat snow free, allowing my girls to have some room to roam in the winter (they did NOT like their dainty toes touching snow!!)

 

[sbrown1414]

Quote:
Oh that's terrible! I am definately covering my run. Are you putting posts in the middle of your run to support the welded wire? I guess that is the only way to do it. I like the idea of having a hard roofing also. We raised the coop so they can have shade underneath, but it is only 4x6 so that's not a very big area for shelter from the heat and rain. We don't usually have very much snow on the ground but we had it for two weeks twice this past year. That is a lot for us. We are in Oklahoma. Thanks for our input.

 

[Chieftain]

If you can do it, by all means cover the run! It will stay dry, clean, and will protect your chooks from preds. Check the link in my siggy for details, but here's a pic...

This coop/run is built on six pressure treated 4x4 posts set in concrete. Construction was pretty straight forward, and it wasn't terribly expensive...

 

[sbrown1414]

Great looking coop Chieftain! Your girls are really lucky. The thing we have to figure out is our run is 10 feet by 25 feet, so we have to have some sort of bracing or the cover will sag. Also, the coop is higher than the fence by about one foot. We worked so hard on planning the coop and didn't even give a second thought about covering the run until we started reading more about it. Also, after we got our chicks home, we want to make sure they are safe because we are getting really attached to them.

 

[lizzy06019]

Here's what we did.....

The whole run is covered. 3/4 of it is roofed with a real roof with shingles and everything and the other 1/4 is covered with welded wire. Our chicks are 6 weeks old and LOVE their run. I feel like they are safe in there... especially since we have a nice electric fence which wraps around the entire run AND coop 3 times! You'll worry regardless to how secure your coop/run are... so go above and beyond what you think you'll need and that'll give you peace of mind about the girls' safety. Good luck completing the coop/run. Definitely post pics when you're done!