walk in run vs low level run

[Mellowmalt]

Hi,
I am considering making a walk in run. It will require some material to make it, I might have to buy more netting, it will take time to make it and I know it would be easier to check on my chickens but is it worth it? It would involve raising my current run onto a 4 foot platform which would make it tall enough but is it really worth it?

I see a lot of walk in runs, mine has to have a roof so that makes any design a little harder but is it worth the extra hassle of building it?

I am planning to house 6 bantam chickens in it, measuing 6 foot by 5 foot, currently 3 foot tall.

 

[rosemarythyme]

is it worth the extra hassle of building it?

To me, 100%. I clean up around the run 2x a day and the thought of having to stoop down to do makes my back ache. Even if I didn't clean up in the run (since I have deep litter), just being able to easily access the birds, move items around, and give the birds ample vertical access to clutter and run roosts makes it worth it.

 

[3KillerBs]

Yes, it's worth it.

I had a 4-foot tall run on the Little Monitor Coop originally and it was backbreaking to try to do anything in there.

The worst agony was the quarterly clean-out but there was also attempting to attend to an injured hen, retrieving run eggs, picking up the bones after giving them a turkey carcass, etc.

What you spend in lumber and hardware cloth for a full-height run you'll save in chiropractor bills.

 

[aart]

It would involve raising my current run onto a 4 foot platform which would make it tall enough but is it really worth it?

Not understanding the "4 foot platform".
Can you post pics of your run?

I would not have a run that I couldn't walk into....too old to be crawling around on the ground

 

[Ridgerunner]

At 3' tall for me it would not be a case of bending over if I needed to go in, it would be crawling in chicken poop on my hands and knees. I don't think I could comfortably sit up in that, maybe. It would be uncomfortable to work in.

You are in the UK, there is a fair chance your chickens can be outside all day every day. If yours are like mine they will want to spend most of the days outside, where they are pooping in the run. Your plan is 6 bantams in a 6' x 5' run. In a run that small you may be able to reach the far corners with a rake or something without crawling in, but that could be a fair amount of poop in a small area. You may spend a fair amount of time managing poop in that small run.

Keeping it dry will certainly help. The higher it is the more rain can blow in from the side. My roof on my walk-in run helps a lot but it does not keep my run dry.

I don't know where you plan to feed and water, in the coop or in the run. Think of those logistics if it is the run.

I don't keep chickens like you do or plan to do. I'm way too old to enjoy contorting my body to work in tight places. There is no way I'd have a run I could not walk into but mine is a little bigger, 12' x 32' for the walk-in covered run.

 

[Mellowmalt]

Thx for the input everyone.
Since I wanted to anyway and I am only getting older too you have persuadd me to make it.

Shouldn't be too hard, I have the 4 sideposts, got the 8 wooden sidebars, I'll post a picture in a weeks time when its done

The way I am doing it now (which is new as I never had chickens enclosed before this but predators mean I have to) is like a rabbit run with a top opening lid so not too hard but it does involve bending down

 

[aart]

I'll post a picture in a weeks time when its done

Take 'before' pics too!
Good Luck and Have Fun!