Tarp as shade?

[norcal]

I need shade for my run. Right now the coop shades part of the run, until around 3. Then a rabbit hutch shades it. I am going to move the hutch now (to the shade, no rabbits yet). If I put up a tarp to cover part of my run, and to have it go down the side (on the West) for shade, how can I keep it from blowing away? And or taking my chicken wire w/ it? The top of the run is not yet covered w/ wire. Any ideas for the late afternoon/evening run? On a serious BUDGET.

I guess this will be temporary anyhow, as we will cover the run w/ wire before autumn.

 

[faykokoWV]

we used a tarp and secured it to the fence using zip ties. Don't know if you have them where you are but Harbor Freight Tools has tarps starting at $4 and 100 zip ties for $1

 

[faykokoWV]

Oh yeah, we also took a knife and poked some holes in the middle of the tarp to avoid it collecting too much rain water and sagging.

 

[lleighmay]

Zip ties will work. Only thing you might want to do is stand a 2x4 on end (kind of like a tent pole) under the part of the tarp that goes over the top so that water will drain over the side if it rains.

 

[patandchickens]

If you use shade cloth instead, it will not flap or blow off in the wind taking half your coop/run with it.

If you can only find relatively low % shade cloth, you can double it if you don't mind the extra expense. Or just install it so it's more vertical than horizontal -- if it is at a steep angle to the sun, rather than nearly perpendicular to the sun's rays, you get a LOT more shade than the %ge would indicate.

I <heart> shadecloth.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[SimplyForties]

I used a tarp and bungee cords, which made it easy to move.

 

[norcal]

Thanks for all the replies!!

Will attempt it tomorrow. I have no money for shade cloth right now and have a couple tarps. Will slits cut into it, help lessen the wind force, or not (I'm guessing not)?

 

[miner555]

Hey I arched 1 inch PVC plastic pipe over top then covered with plastic netting. I tied plastic tarps to the PVC works very well.

 

[patandchickens]

I would not do slits, they will ready the tarp to shred apart almost immediately when a wind hits. Holes won't do much good either btw.

Your best bet is to crisscross ropes across it, as much as possible, so that there is ideally no more than a foot in any direction between ropes. The less of a 'big flappy pocket' there is for the wind to catch, the less it will shred and thrash.

However be aware that this can transfer quite a lot of force to whatever your tarp and ropes are attached TO, in a strong wind, so you wouldn't want to do it if there were ANY question of them getting ripped off by a tarp trying to become a kite. If you have nothing super-strong super-well-anchored to attach the tarp to, honestly your best bet is to either use something more permeable (if not shadecloth, can you find something else somewhat open weave -- burlap? a cheap afghan from the thrift store?) or attach the tarp loosely so that in the event of a strong wind it will blow off rather than ripping your run apart.

Good luck, have fun, seriously see what you can find in the bedding section of thrift stores,

Pat

 

[norcal]

Thanks Pat. The thrift store idea is a good one.