What would be the benefits of building a larger run?

[rosemarythyme]

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?

Probably... not? It sounds disgusting, but it depends on how vigorously your birds like to poop lol. Some of mine seem to shoot it while on the roost.

 

[Brizi]

Probably... not? It sounds disgusting, but it depends on how vigorously your birds like to poop lol. Some of mine seem to shoot it while on the roost.

Yeah, we'll just not take the chance then. At this point, I'm thinking outside nesting boxes, roosting bars 12" from the wall and 14"-18" from each other. I guess 14" would be better for sharing warmth in the winter, 18" would be better for personal space. So maybe we'll do 16". And maybe I'm overthinking this? lmfao

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yeah, we'll just not take the chance then. At this point, I'm thinking outside nesting boxes, roosting bars 12" from the wall and 14"-18" from each other. I guess 14" would be better for sharing warmth in the winter, 18" would be better for personal space. So maybe we'll do 16". And maybe I'm overthinking this? lmfao

You are. They don't need roosts to be closer to share warmth. They do need them far enough apart to minimize chances of them harassing and pecking at each other while roosting. I can't imagine it gets that cold in your neck of the woods anyhow!

 

[Brizi]

Aaaand it's up! We're very happy with how it turned out. Naturally, we didn't get the coop done and plan on doing that another day. Honestly though, the coop is basically just a sheltered roosting area, so it won't take long at all.

So what do we have left?
1. We will place grounding stakes to further stabilize the run. It's very stable as is, but we want to be extra safe.
2. We will cover the side gaps in hardware cloth.
3. We will close up the gaps on the door panel... somehow.
4. We will put the skirt around the run.
5. We will put pavers around the run on top of the skirt. On the garage side, we will make a landscaping stone path instead.
6. We will build the roof. Yay...
7. We will build the coop and put that in. We left a couple panels loose so we can easily put it in later.
8. Finally, we'll do the finishing touches, like filling in a couple holes in the run and adding enrichment! Oh, and we've got cameras and motion lights to put up.

 

[Suzz]

It looks wonderful!

 

[3KillerBs]

5. We will put pavers around the run on top of the skirt.

This will invalidate the skirt.

The point of the skirt is that when predators dig at the base of the wall they hit the wire but can't dig through it.

If you put pavers on top of the wire they will dig at the edge of the pavers and go underneath them.

The wire skirt works because they can't see the wire under the grass and don't understand that they *could* back up to the edge because they don't know why the ground can't be dug.

 

[Brizi]

This will invalidate the skirt.

The point of the skirt is that when predators dig at the base of the wall they hit the wire but can't dig through it.

If you put pavers on top of the wire they will dig at the edge of the pavers and go underneath them.

The wire skirt works because they can't see the wire under the grass and don't understand that they *could* back up to the edge because they don't know why the ground can't be dug.

Oh wow! Good to know! I just see so many people putting cinderblocks around their run. I suppose we'll be fine doing the pebble path against the garage though, yeah? If they dug up the pebbles, they'd still have the "invisible" skirt to deal with and they'd get confused, I'd assume.

 

[3KillerBs]

Oh wow! Good to know! I just see so many people putting cinderblocks around their run. I suppose we'll be fine doing the pebble path against the garage though, yeah? If they dug up the pebbles, they'd still have the "invisible" skirt to deal with and they'd get confused, I'd assume.

Yep. That's how it works.

My skirt is partially grassed over and partially covered with wood chips.

 

[Krugerrand]

Oh wow! Good to know! I just see so many people putting cinderblocks around their run. I suppose we'll be fine doing the pebble path against the garage though, yeah? If they dug up the pebbles, they'd still have the "invisible" skirt to deal with and they'd get confused, I'd assume.

There can be useful reason to have blocks around the bottom ... it's just important to be sure the skirt goes beyond that. I have some around for easier weed control.

 

[Mr Spot]

My fiancé and I are going to be building a new run soon. It has been expressed to us by some family members that a 20x10 run would be overkill for our 4 chickens. They say a 10x10 would be fine. Personally, I think that 20x10 is a great size, but I'd love to go with an even larger 30x10! They think I'm crazy but, thankfully, my fiancé and I are on the same page.

What would be the benefits of building a larger run? Or, for a small flock of 4 to 8 chickens, are there not going to be any real benefits?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I have 7 standard hens and a bantam rooster and their run is 14 X 60 and I really wish it was larger.