What would be the benefits of building a larger run?

[Marcola]

We're going to be using this modular Retriever Kennel from TSC as the framing for the run. After pricing it all out, that additional 10x10 area would cost us an extra $500 or so. Personally, I don't think that's bad, but I need to run it by my fiancé again. We both agreed that we'd be willing to sink a good amount of money into this, so I don't think he'll have an issue with it.

I'm so used to seeing my chickens in a nice big 30x20 space, but that is ultimately what got our first 4 girls killed. We didn't predator proof it properly due to the size of the run.

Our chicken coop/run is about 6 feet from our garden. I made a "chunnel" for them that connects them to a large area at the end of the garden. It has a large forsythia bush in it that they use for shelter. In the winter I open up the fence and they free range in the entire garden to fertilize, till the soil and eat slug eggs.

 

[Brizi]

The metal zip ties got here early! They worked, and we finally have a solid plan. We only did 2 of the 16 panels, but it should go much quicker from now on.

We're zip tying the top and the middle parts of the kennel panels, but we're leaving the sides and the bottom open. Once the whole thing is put together, we'll zip tie the sides and the skirt on the bottom, and we'll cut off all the extra length on the zip ties.

I played with it a bit and it's really strong. The spaces between the zip ties can be pulled up with a lot of force, but it can't be pulled up more than 1/2". There's absolutely no way that a weasel or a mink is getting through there. The zip ties are rated for nearly 200 lbs, so nothing is pulling it apart either.

 

[Iluveggers]

The metal zip ties got here early! They worked, and we finally have a solid plan. We only did 2 of the 16 panels, but it should go much quicker from now on.

We're zip tying the top and the middle parts of the kennel panels, but we're leaving the sides and the bottom open. Once the whole thing is put together, we'll zip tie the sides and the skirt on the bottom, and we'll cut off all the extra length on the zip ties.

I played with it a bit and it's really strong. The spaces between the zip ties can be pulled up with a lot of force, but it can't be pulled up more than 1/2". There's absolutely no way that a weasel or a mink is getting through there. The zip ties are rated for nearly 200 lbs, so nothing is pulling it apart either.

Would you mind sharing where you got the panels and what exactly they are? They look nice & sturdy!

 

[Brizi]

Would you mind sharing where you got the panels and what exactly they are? They look nice & sturdy!

Sure! They're from Tractor Supply, and they're called Retriever Kennels. We bought 8 expansion packs (2 panels per pack) and 1 door panel. They're made of 9 gauge welded wire. I'm honestly super impressed with them!

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/retriever kennel?

 

[Brizi]

All is going according to plan! We cleared the yard out and we put a few panels up. We'll have all the rest of the panels lined with hardware cloth by next weekend, and then the whole run will go up! From there we'll work on closing all the side gaps, setting the skirt, and building the roof. We're now out of the experimental phase and we know exactly what we're doing. Well, until the time comes to do the roof.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Here's what I did with my run (there is no coop):
- Large run area (More room for poop to spread and dried out, less smell)
- Direct Contact with soil (The soil microbes help breakdown the poop)
- Deep Litter Method (Give time for poop to decompose and mixed in the soil)
- Designed it like a greenhouse (Sunlight gets in and kills bacteria)
- Add plants, the more the better (Plants and soil microbes help breakdown poop)
- Spray Probiotic Water in the run once every 2-3 weeks (Add beneficial bacteria to the deep litter)
- Mix Probiotic and Charcoal Powder in the feed (Reduce Odor significantly)
- Free Range during the day (Less poop in the run/coop)

I have 30 chickens in 5,000 sqft run. So every night, the chickens sleep on the roosting bars in the run. During the day the sunlight will shine on the roosting area, so it will dry up their poop and disinfect it.

So far this method worked for me, I haven't cleaned the run in 6 months and it doesn't smell.

Here if you want to check out my chickens: https://www.youtube.com/@sleepychicken19/videos

View attachment 3421374View attachment 3421377

This is the best chicken space ever!!!

 

[Brizi]

It's coop time! We're building the coop over the next couple days. We'll finish putting up the kennel panels this Sunday.

I need some input, but I didn't want to make a whole new thread, so here it is for anyone reading. I'm not sure exactly how to space the roosting bars, and I'm not sure if the nesting boxes should go inside or outside the coop. I've come up with a couple options. Please let me know what you think or if there's any changes that you'd make to the design! (Hopefully y'all can understand my little Paint drawings. )

Option #1 - The nest boxes go inside the coop. - This would put the roosting bars 12" away from the back wall, 12" away from each other, and 12" away from the nesting box. The outermost roosting bar would be 28" from the open front.

Option #2 - The nest boxes go outside the coop. - This would put the roosting bars 18" away from the back wall, 18" away from each other, and 12" away from the nesting box. The outermost roosting bar would be 16" from the open front.

 

[Krugerrand]

Inside:
- Advantage - easier to weather proof
- Advantage - easier to build (typically)

Outside:
- Advantage - saves floor space in coop
- Advantage - easer to access eggs (typically)

I have a small coop and like having them on the outside. However, I found that when we got hit hard with a super cold spell, all 4 hens jammed into 1 box for warmth. I assumed they knew what was best for themselves. But, the nest box doesn't have as good of ventilation as the rest of the coop and I got some bits of frostbite as a result. Depending on how an inside nest box is designed, that problem easier to mitigate. I know better now and will block of the nest boxes in super cold weather so they can huddle up somewhere else.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Option #1 - The nest boxes go inside the coop. - This would put the roosting bars 12" away from the back wall, 12" away from each other, and 12" away from the nesting box. The outermost roosting bar would be 28" from the open front.

Option #2 - The nest boxes go outside the coop. - This would put the roosting bars 18" away from the back wall, 18" away from each other, and 12" away from the nesting box. The outermost roosting bar would be 16" from the open front.

Either would work, though in opt 1 you want the roosts 14-16" away from each other.

In option 2 you can move the roosts closer to wall and to one another if you wish (or leave as-is).

I have internal boxes because they were easier for me to build (no need to cut into shed wall) but I did compensate for the fact that they ate up floor space by increasing overall coop size.

 

[Brizi]

Inside:
- Advantage - easier to weather proof
- Advantage - easier to build (typically)

Outside:
- Advantage - saves floor space in coop
- Advantage - easer to access eggs (typically)

I have a small coop and like having them on the outside. However, I found that when we got hit hard with a super cold spell, all 4 hens jammed into 1 box for warmth. I assumed they knew what was best for themselves. But, the nest box doesn't have as good of ventilation as the rest of the coop and I got some bits of frostbite as a result. Depending on how an inside nest box is designed, that problem easier to mitigate. I know better now and will block of the nest boxes in super cold weather so they can huddle up somewhere else.

Either would work, though in opt 1 you want the roosts 14-16" away from each other.

In option 2 you can move the roosts closer to wall and to one another if you wish (or leave as-is).

I have internal boxes because they were easier for me to build (no need to cut into shed wall) but I did compensate for the fact that they ate up floor space by increasing overall coop size.

Thanks for the input! Turns out we're going to do it on Sunday, so we have until then to decide what to do. I'll definitely make sure the roosting bars are at least 14" away from each other, probably 16".

I'd really prefer to have the nesting boxes on the inside, but I want them to be far enough from the roosting bars to prevent poop from falling on them. Is 8" is far enough to prevent poop falling on them? If so, I could put them inside, but that seems a bit close to me. I know people say to put roosts 12" away from the wall to prevent it from getting pooped on.

In other news, we have 12 of 16 kennel panels done. We're on track to put them all up on Sunday! Then it's roof time.