Transitioning from roofed to roofless run

[countryladyNH]

He put these'slats' in the fence now but because that's the only spot with shade in his yard, the dogs sit and peek through the slats

LOL! Actually the slats look better than the plain fence, and maybe you could plant climbers or bushes on your side, but---o.k., so crabby neighbors don't want their dogs to "see" your chickens??? Gee, maybe they ought to try and get the town to outlaw squirrels, birds...What is wrong with some people??!! You ought to get one of those colorful Christmas roosters too to put out there for the holiday!!

 

[countryladyNH]

I havent read back but saw your pics on the last page. Hows it going? I was also wondering if you could build a mini structure inside the coop, under the mesh and not full height so it cant be considered a roof, to offer them some shelter. Like a cabinet of shelves type thing. Wide long shelves they can hide under.

We have code problems here all the time. We are a farm and have been so for longer than this subdivision nextdoor was built, but we cant get building permits for anything because you have to get consent from all of your neighbors. Well, our property touches like 85 different properties and that's just not going to happen. Back when the subdivision first came in, someone complained and the code enforcer tried tell SO that homes could only have 2 4-wheeled vehicles outside of a garage. And SO fought it and won. Imagine a farm with only 2 4-wheels vehicles outside a proper 4 wall garage.

Anyway, if something doesnt have a foundation, it's not a building, so keep that in mind. ;P (I mean check your codes specifically but there are always loopholes)

I always thought that too---That if it didn't have a foundation or 'real' walls it wasn't a building, and that seems to be the case here. Our RUNS are built directly on the ground. The 'walls' are all 1/2 inch hardware cloth all the way up, ditto the door, and buried into the ground a few inches. NO foundation. We used the same corrugated clear plastic sheets for the roof that the OP used. As far as I can tell, the OP's run is similar---no foundation, yet he had to remove his roof. Totally outrageous IMO, and I wonder why his town would seriously classify a RUN as a building.

 

[K0k0shka]

Anyway, if something doesnt have a foundation, it's not a building, so keep that in mind. ;P (I mean check your codes specifically but there are always loopholes)

That's what I was told before I built the run (I checked), that's why I'm so pissed now that the town is telling me it's the roof that makes it a building, not the foundation. There's no way out of this with a roof unless I move the whole structure, which I REALLY don't want to do, so here we are.

The neighbor feels I should keep my chickens hidden so his two big german shepherds don't bark. I actually saw our area was discussing such a rule, I don't know if it was passed. I feel if someone buys a dog they should realized that some time they may run into a problem where things excite their dog and how to deal with it. I don't know what to expect. I hope things are fine for you now.

Your situation is quite ridiculous too, I'm sorry to hear that. I agree that it should be the dog owner's responsibility to hide distractions from their dog, by putting up a tall privacy fence or something along those lines. I'm just so tired of people trying to control what others have on their property. My yard is my yard, what's on my side of the line is none of yall's business! Ugh. The slats help, but it seems like they're not enough. You shouldn't be spending money fixing his problem, but, at the same time, if it will give you more peace of mind, you can look into covering your side of the fence with a roll of faux ivy - the kind that has a fabric backing, so the dogs can't peek through the leaves. It looks nice, doesn't take forever to grow, and stays green year-round. I have that on two sides of my run and it makes it look nice and woodsy:

I love her! Not to derail, but here's a couple of pics of my Orpingtons...

Gorgeous chickens!!! I must admit, I have on occasion looked you up just to drool over your fluffy Orps I especially love that SL beauty - the deep back makes for amazing contrast! This is my favorite breed by far - the round fluffiness is irresistible, and the sweet and curious disposition has won me over completely.

Here’s another one of my fluff balls - a Lemon Cuckoo.

 

[aart]

"FeatherBalls"!

 

[ackie]

I always thought that too---That if it didn't have a foundation or 'real' walls it wasn't a building, and that seems to be the case here. Our RUNS are built directly on the ground. The 'walls' are all 1/2 inch hardware cloth all the way up, ditto the door, and buried into the ground a few inches. NO foundation. We used the same corrugated clear plastic sheets for the roof that the OP used. As far as I can tell, the OP's run is similar---no foundation, yet he had to remove his roof. Totally outrageous IMO, and I wonder why his town would seriously classify a RUN as a building.

Luckily for us, no one can really see what we are doing, so we just need a plausible story if someone ever does come to check. Our newest thing is using shipping containers as walls and having a partial roof that sticks off it and overlaps another partial roof sticking off the other but not actually connecting. Now that I said that, that makes me think the roof does matter. I've never read the codes. SO does all that.

 

[K0k0shka]

"FeatherBalls"!

"Featherball" was our favorite game when we were kids. No chickens were involved though - that's just what we called badminton at the time. I'd never seen chicken featherballs until I started researching breeds last year though! Glad I found them.

 

[K0k0shka]

I made bases for the umbrellas out of a sliced tree somebody was getting rid of in the neighborhood. I screwed the pieces together with 6" screws, and drilled a hole down the middle for the umbrella poles. The bases are very heavy and seem stable. Didn't get around to the third and largest umbrella, but they have enough dry area for now with just these two. They have a straight path out the coop that's dry, just in time for today's rain. I checked with the building commissioner and he said the umbrellas are fine, and so is the camo netting I was thinking of putting up as well, above the privacy fence. He did emphasize that everything he says is appealable. But so be it. Let them waste a bunch of time and money trying to appeal the placement of patio umbrellas. I'm not going to put up the netting until at least the end of January though. If I do it now, how are they gonna be able to see my glorious light up rooster?

The umbrellas are brown and blend in with the run quite well:

There's a dry path from the coop to the door of the run now:

Also, I got rid of the ramp up to the pop door, to conserve space. The chickens are happy with their stump steps.

 

[countryladyNH]

I made bases for the umbrellas out of a sliced tree somebody was getting rid of in the neighborhood. I screwed the pieces together with 6" screws, and drilled a hole down the middle for the umbrella poles. The bases are very heavy and seem stable. Didn't get around to the third and largest umbrella, but they have enough dry area for now with just these two. They have a straight path out the coop that's dry, just in time for today's rain. I checked with the building commissioner and he said the umbrellas are fine, and so is the camo netting I was thinking of putting up as well, above the privacy fence. He did emphasize that everything he says is appealable. But so be it. Let them waste a bunch of time and money trying to appeal the placement of patio umbrellas. I'm not going to put up the netting until at least the end of January though. If I do it now, how are they gonna be able to see my glorious light up rooster?

The umbrellas are brown and blend in with the run quite well:
View attachment 2408713

View attachment 2408714

There's a dry path from the coop to the door of the run now:
View attachment 2408715

Also, I got rid of the ramp up to the pop door, to conserve space. The chickens are happy with their stump steps.
View attachment 2408718

Excellent! It looks like it was meant to be this way all along! Well done, you!

 

[countryladyNH]

I made bases for the umbrellas out of a sliced tree somebody was getting rid of in the neighborhood. I screwed the pieces together with 6" screws, and drilled a hole down the middle for the umbrella poles. The bases are very heavy and seem stable. Didn't get around to the third and largest umbrella, but they have enough dry area for now with just these two. They have a straight path out the coop that's dry, just in time for today's rain. I checked with the building commissioner and he said the umbrellas are fine, and so is the camo netting I was thinking of putting up as well, above the privacy fence. He did emphasize that everything he says is appealable. But so be it. Let them waste a bunch of time and money trying to appeal the placement of patio umbrellas. I'm not going to put up the netting until at least the end of January though. If I do it now, how are they gonna be able to see my glorious light up rooster?

The umbrellas are brown and blend in with the run quite well:
View attachment 2408713

View attachment 2408714

There's a dry path from the coop to the door of the run now:
View attachment 2408715

Also, I got rid of the ramp up to the pop door, to conserve space. The chickens are happy with their stump steps.
View attachment 2408718

PS I don't see how the umbrellas would be appeal-able---I would think if that was the case NO one could have an umbrella table in their back yard. I sure wouldn't worry about that. Can't believe you would lose on that.
Yes! Don't put the netting up until after the holidays! Where is Mr. Roo going? On the roof of COOP??

 

[lovesfarms]

I made bases for the umbrellas out of a sliced tree somebody was getting rid of in the neighborhood. I screwed the pieces together with 6" screws, and drilled a hole down the middle for the umbrella poles. The bases are very heavy and seem stable. Didn't get around to the third and largest umbrella, but they have enough dry area for now with just these two. They have a straight path out the coop that's dry, just in time for today's rain. I checked with the building commissioner and he said the umbrellas are fine, and so is the camo netting I was thinking of putting up as well, above the privacy fence. He did emphasize that everything he says is appealable. But so be it. Let them waste a bunch of time and money trying to appeal the placement of patio umbrellas. I'm not going to put up the netting until at least the end of January though. If I do it now, how are they gonna be able to see my glorious light up rooster?

The umbrellas are brown and blend in with the run quite well:
View attachment 2408713

View attachment 2408714

There's a dry path from the coop to the door of the run now:
View attachment 2408715

Also, I got rid of the ramp up to the pop door, to conserve space. The chickens are happy with their stump steps.
View attachment 2408718

That's an excellent creative job! I applaud you for not giving up on having the chickens! The township is always so concerned that all pets are well taken care of, have enough shelter- by not allowing you to have a tarp, they are going against their own regulations. Actually, your umbrellas look really good, better then a tarp.