Very large flat hardware mesh roof

[ihatedarkroast]

We put railroad ties across ours because that's what we had laying around-- the remains of a previous hay barn. Then we fixed plastic bird netting/deer fence over it...which was leftover from my parent's vegetable garden. The outside walls are chicken wire and hardware cloth attached to woven wire 7' livestock roll fencing. We didn't bother covering the roof of the run from the rain except in two corners. There are trees which drop leaves and branches on top which mitigate the rain and snow. I'm considering getting a used billboard to cover both coop and run in one go. My tarp over the main coop is getting leaky and thin.

 

[aart]

We are in the Midwest, so lots of snow

Better plan your framing well and strong.

Does flat mean totally horizontal or sloped to one side for drainage?

Oh, and... Welcome to BYC! @Rachelz
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Rachelz]

Excellent.

This isn't that large. You can get conventional lumber at your big box stores to frame out a roof with that span.

Why use hardware cloth when you can just put a solid roof on it and not have to clean anything off and not have to mess with tarps to try to keep the run dry?

Where are you located in general? It's best to update your profile with that information. For this thread, we'd need to know about live loads that your roof may experience and the soil heave on which your structure will be built.

I'm in snow country with a code footer depth minimum of 42". I also converted a large shed into a coop and built a large run off of it. My run is 12' x 24' with an 8x4' jog off the back of the coop.

I dug 42" holes for concrete piers to anchor 4x4 PT posts to at 8 ft on center then topped the two supporting walls with doubled 2x6 beams to support 14'x2x6 rafters with the tails hanging off the front and back to offer a little overhang to keep water from running down the walls. I added 2x4 PT supports at 4ft on center between the posts to support 4' wide strips of 1/2" hardware cloth on the walls and out 18-24" over the ground for the predator apron.

View attachment 3792936
View attachment 3792937

View attachment 3792939

View attachment 3792940

View attachment 3792941

View attachment 3792942

I decided on asphalt shingles for the roofing material but metal roofing could also be used depending on climate and the amount of shade offered at the build site. I wouldn't recommend metal roofs in the blazing sun because they will radiate heat down into the structure.
View attachment 3792944

View attachment 3792946

Thank you so much for this!!! I should clarify: we can only have 6 chickens total by local ordinance, so that seems like a lot of space to me for only a relatively small number of chickens! We're planning to build a probably 6x10 shed where 6x4 will be a sort of horse stall covered enclosure for winter time fun, with the uncovered run being contiguous to that stall portion. We're in Northern Illinois. We'd thought about partially covering the additional run space to limit the need for snow removal, but don't plan to remove snow on the entire run during winter or tarp it all. There's a lot of tree cover where the coop and run will be, but also lots of hawks. If they have some space they should be ok, right? We're running electric to the shed and will do some warming device in the coop in the winter. Please tell me if I'm totally being crazy, first time and all!

 

[Rachelz]

Better plan your framing well and strong.

Does flat mean totally horizontal or sloped to one side for drainage?

Oh, and... Welcome to BYC! @Rachelz
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 3793000

Done, thanks!!!

 

[Rachelz]

Better plan your framing well and strong.

Does flat mean totally horizontal or sloped to one side for drainage?

Oh, and... Welcome to BYC! @Rachelz
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 3793000

Totally flat because the shed we're looking at is 7.5 feet tall at the eaves, and we're a very tall family (husband 6 feet 5, signs point to kiddo headed in the same direction) so don't want to have to crouch in the run at all.

 

[Rachelz]

We put railroad ties across ours because that's what we had laying around-- the remains of a previous hay barn. Then we fixed plastic bird netting/deer fence over it...which was leftover from my parent's vegetable garden. The outside walls are chicken wire and hardware cloth attached to woven wire 7' livestock roll fencing. We didn't bother covering the roof of the run from the rain except in two corners. There are trees which drop leaves and branches on top which mitigate the rain and snow. I'm considering getting a used billboard to cover both coop and run in one go. My tarp over the main coop is getting leaky and thin.

I think the concern we'd have with that roof structure is mostly that we have a lot of predators around here. They'll be in a really hard core shed at night but we're even thinking about electric fence for the run.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
i agree with @DobieLover here, a solid roof, built to support your snow load (large!) would be best. Your current pictures show a structure underbuilt, IMO, for your location.
Our coop and roofed run combination are built up to local residential standards, because I'm out there, and don't plan on having a collapsing roof, or to be out there at 2am during a snow storm clearing the roof.
Pay now, or get to rebuild, during bad weather.
Mary

 

[Rachelz]

Welcome!
i agree with @DobieLover here, a solid roof, built to support your snow load (large!) would be best. Your current pictures show a structure underbuilt, IMO, for your location.
Our coop and roofed run combination are built up to local residential standards, because I'm out there, and don't plan on having a collapsing roof, or to be out there at 2am during a snow storm clearing the roof.
Pay now, or get to rebuild, during bad weather.
Mary

The pictures on here are from others, we're just planning right now! We weren't planning to remove snow from the roof at all with the mesh roof, as the chickens will have some covered outdoor space in the shed (like a horse stall situation) so maybe some coverage to extend the roof line and ensure there is some snow free outdoor area but otherwise not going to shovel the run or tarp it in winter. Is that a crazy plan? I'm more concerned that the chickens are safe and reasonably comfortable, which i assume requires some sunshine. But I don't know, I'm new to this!

 

[rosemarythyme]

We weren't planning to remove snow from the roof at all with the mesh roof

Snow won't readily fall through hardware cloth, especially if you get any wet snow. I have 2" netting and wet snow or heavy snowfall or freeze/thaw cycles will cause build up, but that's ok for my climate because we generally get light or sporadic snow. Depending on how much build up there is we may need to go out and whack the snow off with a broom every few hours.

 

[Evadig]

Your current pictures show a structure underbuilt, IMO, for your location.

The pictures are from my run...we get very little snow here so I don't need to worry about the flat roof necessarily, though we are working on getting it slanted.