Using tarp over run for rain/snow?

[Omran]

Itried it before and it just waste for the $$$ do not do it.

 

[frostbite]

yes, it is nice and wavy looking, comes in translucent white for sure, and green, like greenhouse siding, it's good stuff, light and easy to work with. And it takes a lot less support lumber than tarps! When you put it up, overlap one wavy. They make special screws that have a rubber sealing washer so that water doesn't leak through the screw holes.

 

[babyrnlc]

I use tarps for the runs. I use bungies though. We get some wind in Oklahoma and the bungies have some give. If I get a pool I just push it up or pull up one side. My run is low enough to do that.

Last year I also covered my coop with it to help during the blizzard. We have tons of tarps.

 

[zzGypsy]

flat-mounted tarps will get pools and collect water or snow. and then stretch. and then need retightening which won't keep them from getting pools again the next time you have weather.

the only thing we've done that works is make a bow-top support. if you use the very light PVC you can bend it to make a hoop top over the run. you'll need span support between the hoops, so we use the 4-way joints at center top and run a straight PVC from hoop to hoop along the top centerline. it will be tall, you'll need a ladder and at least two of you to get the hoops set in place. we attached the hoops to the inside of the pen so they can't spread and flatten out, and secured the heck out of the tarp... it will work, no pools. doesn't take a lot of construction skill (it's just PVC pipe). our area was 12' wide, I think we could have gotten a tighter bend and gone 10', but if you bend it too much it'll break so I'd try an experiment with just a couple of sticks of the PVC before buying the full set you'll need for the run. also, the closer the hoops are together the less likely you'll get stretching and pools between the hoops.

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a neat idea that won't cost much and you can reuse year after year, remove to store flat or just keep it in place. Use cattle or hog panels arched over your run, secure with zip ties and THEN tarp it out. The arch will shed the rain and snow, is rock hard steady in high winds and storms and lightweight, easy to work with and can be used in so many ways around a yard.

You can use them in creative ways to make chicken tractors, small green houses, broiler pens, hay storage and lounging sheds for small livestock. Each panel will cost around $18-$22 and are 12-15 ft. long and 3-4 ft. wide. They are easily cut with bolt cutters or sawsall, bend in creative ways, can be used for gating, penning and building structures.

I built a sheep shelter out of them and just used T post, zip ties, tarps and a cargo net and that shelter never moved in our horrible high winds, shed the 3 ft. snows we got that winter and kept everyone dry as toast.

 

[the3ofus+oursixchicks]

i also have tarps on mine. when it rains it of course puddles but i just get out there with a long piece of lumber thin too and prop up the tarp til the water runs off. sometimes i have left it up so that its almost like a tent. most of the time i just hold it up to where the water will run off though. its really no problem much. i would rather have a regular tin roof but this will do for now. but we do plan on redoing some things this spring or before.my set up is completely covered with chicken wire. so the piece of wood i use will just fit through the hole of the wire to prop the tarp to get rid of the rain water.

 

[pawsplus]

Check out my BYC Coop and Mud Eradication pages. I use 10x10 kennels too, and I got a great pitched roof w/ tarp, intended for just those kennels, at TSC for $99. Works GREAT!! Since the roof is pitched, stuff doesn't accumulate there and tear the wire. I have a woven wire cover over the runs, of course, under the pitched roof.

 

[marymac]

We just used left over chicken wire for the top of the run and covered it with a tarp, so far so good no pooling and it has stayed dry .

 

[wilobrookfarms]

I'm impressed paws! That looks great! I think I'll make due for a few weeks with the tarps, and then try your idea. (Save up some $) I like this because if/when we do sell our place to build a new house on our other property, it can all be taken down and reused! On that note, anyone want to buy a cute 8 acre mini farm in Michigan?

 

[TheIvoryKitty]

Tarp. Is. Evil.

It seems like a good idea until it falls apart and then you've got shreds of tarp all in the dirt. We used some tarp over our little coop many years ago and now there's strips of tarp 2 feet into the ground. When we built our most recent coop we had to dig it all up because i didn't want the chicks eating it - what a pain!

Then again, maybe we used the cheapy tarp. That seems like something we'd do.