snow in run

[gtaus]

I think it's good to look into the future and build for the likelihood of not always being in top shape regardless of age.

I totally agree. I made both my chicken coop and my chicken run tall enough that I can walk in there standing upright. Although I am in decent shape, and I can't complain too much, I'm still at an age where standing up to do work is a lot easier on me than having to bend over.

 

[gtaus]

I used the plastic 6mil stuff from Lowe’s

That looks really great.

Your roof looks kind of flat to me. Do you get lots of snow? I would be concerned about a heavy snow load where I live, unless your roof with plastic does an excellent job of shedding off snow. But that is the setup I wish I had. Maybe something like that next winter.

 

[featherhead007]

Covering an almost 1000 sqft run would be cost prohibitive for me. Tarps and things, no matter how tightly you think you have them stretched, sag ever closer to the ground with every inch of snow that lands on them, rendering my nice 6 1/2' tall walk in run a mere couple inches at best, especially with heavy, wet, March, April, and May storms. So I let the snow fall in the run, open the coop door so as the birds have the option of going outside should they choose and let them decide. After a couple days, at least one has had enough of being "cooped up" (pun fully intended) and the others follow.

Fortunately for the birds (and me, I hate snow far more than any chicken I have ever met) out here on the high plains, we don't usually have snow on the ground for too many days in a row. Eventually the sun comes back out and combined with our near constant wind, it melts off relatively quickly (at almost 5,000 ft, our intense sun and the Chinook winds off the Rockies, melts snow and ice even when the official temperature is quite a few degrees below freezing) so both me and chickens can get back our regularly scheduled programming in short order.

Just hand the birds little snow shovels, and hope they get the idea!

 

[featherhead007]

What? I thought frozen fish tasted like tartar sauce... you mean it has a taste of its own?

 

[Chickencrazy21043]

That mesh and frame work looks plenty sturdy!
You might want to leave some of the plastic off for ventilation tho.

There’s plenty of air flow with the door open all day . It’s not 100% sealed up

 

[CindyinSD]

Yeah, it was never meant to carry snow load, spacing fits 6' mesh width, just keep hawks out and slow down most everything else.

Looks like it keeps hawks out all right. Great pic!

 

[Trevorusn]

In the middle of a snowfest here in NH now. Tarps will do no good under the weight of any snow, never mind the wet heavy snow we often get. I have one small covered run and one uncovered on my 4x6, even the roofed one still gets snow in it. I open the doors and let them choose. Fortunately if they choose to stay in they have room to do so.

 

[Golden Chicken Master]

I just pulled the snow off of mine- WNY here and we had some wet thick heavy snow these past few days. I have a tent (carport) that is 10 X 20 that is their run, it covers the nesting boxes and the feeding/water areas. i have some fencing all the way around and I put double layer chicken wire as well as tarps on the sides to protect from the wind. I pushed the tarp sections up today and let the snow fall off but yep there is snow on the sides of their run, I will shovel it into a pile tomorrow at my lowest area so it will drain. My chickens dont mind it too much but it is hard to give scratch when there is snow on the ground and if it freezes that is just a waste of feed! Anyway I got my tent on amazon, 135$ I got my other stuff from country max and the tarps that I cover the sides with are from some dog houses I bought at lowes.

 

[Zach123]

If hail is an issue where you live, the plastic roof on a car port will look like Swiss cheese by the end of June. We don’t have a lot of car ports around these parts. Hail is one reason why, most green houses don’t typically have a long shelf life out here.

One thing to think about is that a roof, whether it’s on a shed, house, coop, or run is that it doesn’t have to shed snow 100%. So long as it is constructed well it will hold up to snow. How much depends on how well it is built, but if you want to maximize space by not useing an A-frame, you can still have a covered run with a roof that you don’t have to clear snow off of after every storm. Not that there is anything wrong with an A-frame though. If we had a small flock I wouldn’t mind one, they are pretty neat.

 

[Zach123]

From my observation, chickens seem to prefer to roost and perch so that their toes curl around rather than lay flat, even when it’s cold (and while we don’t get into the -40’s, NE Colorado is not what I would describe as warm haha). In any case, in cold weather, the feathers along the flanks and breast seem to do an adequate job of covering feet and toes on a narrower roost in order to provide warmth.

While it’s definitely true that birds have specialized circulatory systems in their legs to prevent cold damage, it also works both ways. The exposed legs, along with combs and wattles, are one of the ways in which chickens rid themselves of excess heat.

I have always suspected the heat conserving qualities of leg veins are less developed in species that evolved in tropical climates, like chickens, as opposed to colder climate species like say, waterfowl. Looking at a flock of mallards or Canada’s in winter blissfully hanging out on frozen lakes and wading through snow covered corn fields goes to show how much more adapted to temperate climates these birds are. Back in the barnyard I watch my own ducks completely unphased by the snow and ice in their run. Meanwhile the chickens are regularly seen standing on one leg, warming one foot at a time and gingerly tiptoeing around. And that’s if they can be convinced to leave the coop at all. Again, this seems to reinforce the idea that their ability to regulate cold temperatures around their legs and feet is not as developed as other species. Not a scientific truth by any means, but if your ancestors came the from hot, steamy jungles of SE Asia there would be little reason to have the same level of cold protection as a bird who’s closest relatives often breed north of the arctic circle. In fact, it would be for more important that they can effectively and efficiently dissipate heat.