I am planning on having crested breeds. Do those with Poland, Brabanters, Houdans, etc have covered runs (I plan to have chicken wire over top for hawk protection, but am wondering beyond that. I would love for the birds to get sun when they can, esp. in winter. We don't get a lot of snow and summers are very hot and dry (but humid.) I am afraid the cost of covering the runs would be prohibitive (on top of my plans for the coop.) Any of you with Polands or Houdan or Brabanters or Sultans have any advise on your experience? Thanks.
I have a couple of Poland bantams in my flock and their run is covered with netting to stop other birds getting in - but that's it. There's a caged area under the coop and I've built a little "smoking shelter" where they can get out of the wind and rain if they want to. So long as they can dust-bath, they are perfectly happy.
We let our Polish free range with our D'Uccles and Guinea Fowl. They have a covered run to keep most of the snow our in the winter. We have not lost a bird yet a the guineas raise the alarm at the drop of a hat.
