Blower might work good, have seen it done here...Yeah, 2x4 would do too, 2x3 is just what I happened to have found on Amazon at the time. For knocking things down - snow or fallen leaves - I was thinking I could try going at it from underneath with the leaf blowerMay just spread it more than anything, but at least it would be fun!
Warning: don't use Virginia Creeper near chickens cause of they eat to many berries they can be poisoned. I learned this the hard way.
Grapes...chickens love grapes! I see you don't really want to use seasonal plants, but I would still recommend grapes. We have them growing in a couple different locations over our chicken yard. The chickens love them and will eat all in reach. And those they don't reach, you can eat yourself! Nothing like homegrown grapes...Maybe make several picnic tables to go with your patio umbrellas
I think the wire top is a good idea--it will absolutely keep the chickens from ever flying into the neighbors yard, and it will keep things like hawks, owls, and cats from getting into the run.
Putting the umbrellas inside the run is a good idea, too. That way they cannot blow away into someone else's yard. (They could blow against the inside of the run and get damaged, so you would still want to put them away if you're expecting heavy wind, but at least they won't go anywhere.)
For fast-growing vines, a few possibilities are cucumbers, squash or pumpkins (vining type, not bush type), some varieties of tomato plants, peas or beans (the tall or climbing varieties).
For longer-lived vines, I've heard that grapes are good too.
Grapes are definitely on the "menu" for next year, but away from the chickens, so we can eat them ourselves
I don't really want grapevines hanging off of the run structure though. They can get heavy and bring it down. And they need a lot of pruning and maintenance, which I won't be able to do on the roof with the wire mesh in the way.
Grapes are definitely on the "menu" for next year, but away from the chickens, so we can eat them ourselves
Yep, I've seen what they can do, too.
Can you put Shade Cloth under the wire?That's a no on the shade cloth, wire is okay but I'm hesitant to add anything dense because of snow load in the winter and fallen leaves in the fall (the run is underneath a massive 8-story maple tree that drops a truckful of leaves). Though maybe if I leave the leaves there, they can act as a "roof" and privacy screen all piled up there
No, nothing overhead like that, and "no tricks"
I ran a couple similar ideas by the building commissioner and he said something along the lines of "I see what you're doing and that's clever, but let's just be safe and say no".
