I bought a dog run with a sunshade top at lowes then i put 1ft x 1ft cement walking paver all the way around it plus chicken fencing on the chain link fence about 3 ft high so nothing can reach in the chicken fencing is not up yet in this pic sorry but its done now
This was during construction....look really close and you may can see the chicken wire extends out from the run for about 24", then we placed large rocks at the base of the 2 by 4s and then placed about 4-5 inches of dirt on top of the wire that runs the ground and walla....add flowers!!
I am so glad to see all the ideas. We are almost done with the coop and then need to work on the run. Has been on my mind constantly as I just wasn't for sure how we were going to do it. I now know. We have tons of bricks and cinder blocks that were left here from the previous owner. When I say tons I mean TONS. Pallets worth. We will be digging trenches and putting the cinder blocks and bricks to good use now.
Here's my run. It's 6x8 and 6+ ft. tall at it's highest point.
Unfort, I don't have many construction photos from the run. My husband was threatening to leave me (kidding) before we got it done. Construction took all summer and my chicks were 13 weeks old and still living in the house, so we were VERY motivated to get it finished...
4x4 landscaping timbers sunk 18 inches into the ground and cemented in for corners.
6x6 landscaping timbers sunk 2 inches into the ground to form the base.
Base timbers were attached with brackets
2x4 construction with 36 inch centers for the walls and 24 inch centers for the roof (to help with snow load and wind)
Metal sheeting on the roof.
Hardware wire on the bottom half, buried 12 inches
Poultry wire on the top half, but to be replaced probably this summer because it's rusty (it was cheaper but I worry about it's structural integrity)