Newbie - Chicken Run design

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LewisD

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Hi All,

I am currently in the process of designing and building my own chicken coop / run. We a re located in the south of the UK and I am planning on having 4-5 chickens.

I have the chicken coop planned out but I have a question regarding the run and more specifically, the roofing of the run.

I am planning on a 3m x 3m run and it being 2m high. I was planning on it being all chicken wired and with a wired flat roof but the location we are going to use is under an oak tree. in the Autumn there are LOTS of acorns. if i have a flat meshed roof, will these be dangerous for the chickens and meaning i have to go with a sheeted roof?

Any suggestions on what we should do?
 
hi Lewis and welcome to the forum.
There are several recent threads in this section from members who like you are just starting out with chickens. You might be interested in these threads in particular where we've been discussing just the questions you've asked.

http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=11126

http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=11176

Both of these projects are now finished and the proud owners now have their lovely chickens as you'll see from their later posts.

This long thread is also about a run-building project and on p.2 it goes into the mesh needed for the run. Ordinary chicken wire will keep your birds in but won't last very long or be strong enough to keep them safe from predators so really you should use weldmesh which is discussed here.
http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=11013&start=10

I would go for a solid roof any time. Not only will it keep out the acorns, it will prevent the run from becoming a horrible muddy mess in wet winter weather and will keep the chickens dry and comfortable. It will also be a better defence against predators and will prevent any wild bird droppings from getting in through mesh which might cause infection. We haven't had bird flu restrictions for a year or so but when these are imposed you have to keep your birds under cover so if you have a solid roof that does the job. I used clear plastic corrugated sheets which let light through and are easy to handle and install. Fit a gutter if you can as this will prevent rain from blowing in sideways under the edge in stormy weather. 9sq.metres will be fine for 4-5 birds.

Are you going to build your own coop? We'd like to hear what you are planning and again there's lots of ideas on coop design in this section.
Looking forward to hearing more from you!
 
Hi Lewis

We’ve recently embarked on this journey and Marigold has already referenced our project.

Our run is located under a cherry tree which fruits every year (unfortunately too bitter to eat) they often create a sticky black mess on the lawn below. It’s also the local perching spot for a pair of wood pigeons.

We went for a black corrugated bitumen sheet roofing called coraline. The dark sheets I think give a nicer finish and are also available in red, green and a brown colour. I choose these over transparent ones as I didn’t fancy seeing all the mess through it and having to clean it off all the time.

I ordered the roofing through roofing megastore online. Even with delivery it worked out cheaper than local suppliers of transparent sheets.

Whichever route you go I think a covered run will reduce the potential mess in the run both from the rain or your acorns.

Enjoy it. If I can help with anything else let me know.

Rich


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