snow in run

[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.

 

[That_australian_lad]

im an aussi and i never have that problem

 

[That_australian_lad]

can you take a pic of them in the snow plz

 

[aart]

I used the plastic 6mil stuff from Lowe’s

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

 

[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

 

[Chickencrazy21043]

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.

so it’s slightly slanted. I got stuck at the farm and lost time in what I really wanted to do. The PTZ cameras and power took most of my time

 

[Zach123]

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

If I could get the chickens to shovel I’d be making them do a lot more than just their run that’s for sure!

 

[gtaus]

T-posts and conduit, details here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-coop-page.65912/
The mesh sagged, a lot, wish I had got a pic...luckily 'loose' connections allowed the sag without bending rafters or kinking mesh, it all bounced back. Whew!

OK, I went to the link and read how you put together your run. I thought maybe you used that heavier metal like on dog kennels. I could see where that 3/4" EMT pipe would not hold much of a snow load unless you had supports much closer to each other and maybe a much higher angle on the roof.

I'm still considering either a domed cattle panel run or an A-frame design, but it would rather small. I have been watching my hens this past week and NONE have gone outside after the ground is covered with white snow. So, I figure any covered run would be better than a big, open run covered by snow.