my run is about 33ft by 26 ft i think so its pretty large and i am really thinking about putting heavy duty tarpaulin over the top of it above the netting thats already there as i am getting annoyed with the run being muddy a lot but is this a good idea or not ?? , i had a bad case of red mite so i got rid of all my wooden housing and i converted those large storage garden plastic sheds they are working out well but they are not totally waterproof which is the reason why i got this tarpaulin as i was going to make a 16ft shelter over the housing and then drape it down the back of the plastic houses and then srcew them into the main wall to stop them blowing away but now i am wandering wether i could get away with just doing the whole roof instead as anyone else covered such a large area , i can pin it into the main fencing so it wont get blown away but with winter convering and maybe more snow that worries me with it getting stuck on top as last year it was bad enough with it being on just the netting .
roofing a large run
- Thread starter karminski
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chrismahon
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Apart from the wind problems with it flapping about and upsetting the hens and rubbing on the netting, won't it be very dark in Winter? Could you just cover the part of it over the sheds and put woodchip on the rest?
During the first winter I kept hens, I fixed a clear plastic tarp over the weldmesh top of my 12ft by 14 ft run. It didn't make the run dark as it was nearly transparent, and i was able to fix it down to the roof supports with nylon cords, and also I ran nylon ropes over the top to help reduce flapping. It did survive the winter and made a big contribution to comfort for both me and the hens. However, the main trouble was the puddles which developed on top after heavy rain. However tightly I tried to fix the tarp, they quickly grew really big and heavy, and I had to push the water off from below with a broom because they were distorting the mesh from the enormous weight of water. This caused floods down the sides and consternation in the run! I did try to support the tarp by adding pieces of wood under it, across the wooden roof supports, but this didn't cure the problem. So the next year I removed the tarp and we fixed onduline over about 2/5 of the run, leaving the rest open. I then fixed clear tarp round three sides of the covered end, to make a sort of open tent, where the birds get shelter from wind and rain, can perch in the dry, and eat dry food and have a dry dustbath in winter.
So I'd say it wouldn't really work on such a large space as yours, but if you could get part of it comfortably covered with a rigid roof, you'd be able to provide dry and sheltered conditions, and maybe shut the birds into this area if the weather was truly awful.
So I'd say it wouldn't really work on such a large space as yours, but if you could get part of it comfortably covered with a rigid roof, you'd be able to provide dry and sheltered conditions, and maybe shut the birds into this area if the weather was truly awful.
thanks guys i did go and re look at it all last night inbetween the major downpours actully just got the girls in before the last one of the night which was followed with thunder and lightning anyways i would have to take of the angle steel beams which have wire threaded though { stop foxes getting up on roof } and thats at least 20 of them with 4 lines of wire so doing that in itself is hard enough work especailly as i have added an extention since so all that netting would have to come down oneside just to get to these beams , what i was thinking was to lay the tarpauling down the back of the houses up to the roof stapled to the main beams and then up and logn the roof which was about 2 metres worth and attached it to the beams going across the roof but even now i dont think that will work 
i did get 2 sheets on onduline but they have been used to cover an little wooden coop { dont buy one not waterproof at all } and to make a dry feed shelter for during the day , now i dont know wether to just leave the houses for now until i can get some more onduline and use this tarpaulin around the outside of the run as a windbreaker its quite differcult as i dont really have any pro chicken keepers near me that can come and look and give me ideas of what to do 
05 and my ideas dont always work :lol: so its very easy for me to get annoyed with everything if it doesnt work out .
i did get 2 sheets on onduline but they have been used to cover an little wooden coop { dont buy one not waterproof at all } and to make a dry feed shelter for during the day , now i dont know wether to just leave the houses for now until i can get some more onduline and use this tarpaulin around the outside of the run as a windbreaker its quite differcult as i dont really have any pro chicken keepers near me that can come and look and give me ideas of what to do 05 and my ideas dont always work :lol: so its very easy for me to get annoyed with everything if it doesnt work out .
dinosaw
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You will find that using a tarp or similar material on anything less than a 15 degree roof pitch will result in puddles forming, on a flat roof this will generally be in the area between your beams in the centre of the run. I suppose there are a few ways you could go.
Now you could tarp your roof, say ok i accept i am not going to keep all of my run dry, wait till you have rainfall and then cut holes in the centre of where the water puddles form allowing the water to drain and preventing your roof collapsing, this will result in the majority of the run remaining dry and the centre portion being saturated and a mud fest, if you only had one or two roof beams this could be solved by placing a water butt or suchlike underneath the leak and using this water for the garden, however the fact you have twenty beams probably rules this out as you will have twenty separate puddles in your roof!. The other way to go is to provide a pitch for your tarp, you would effectively have to support a 4X1 ridge board built up from your existing beams about 3ft i think for a 26ft span then stretch the tarp tight over the ridge board, when i built a pitched onduline roof over my run I usded this a temporary meausre and it proved to be watertight, however i wasnt using tarp I was using heavy duty repair sheet from screwfix so the water ran off very nicely.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/heavy-duty-repair-sheet-3m-x-4m/20738
Onduline isnt really designed for flat roofs as it is flexible and tends to sag, besides which the cost of using it to roof your pen would be enormous so your are best saving that for making your coops watertight. Anyway these are just my ideas hope they are of some help to you
Now you could tarp your roof, say ok i accept i am not going to keep all of my run dry, wait till you have rainfall and then cut holes in the centre of where the water puddles form allowing the water to drain and preventing your roof collapsing, this will result in the majority of the run remaining dry and the centre portion being saturated and a mud fest, if you only had one or two roof beams this could be solved by placing a water butt or suchlike underneath the leak and using this water for the garden, however the fact you have twenty beams probably rules this out as you will have twenty separate puddles in your roof!. The other way to go is to provide a pitch for your tarp, you would effectively have to support a 4X1 ridge board built up from your existing beams about 3ft i think for a 26ft span then stretch the tarp tight over the ridge board, when i built a pitched onduline roof over my run I usded this a temporary meausre and it proved to be watertight, however i wasnt using tarp I was using heavy duty repair sheet from screwfix so the water ran off very nicely.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/heavy-duty-repair-sheet-3m-x-4m/20738
Onduline isnt really designed for flat roofs as it is flexible and tends to sag, besides which the cost of using it to roof your pen would be enormous so your are best saving that for making your coops watertight. Anyway these are just my ideas hope they are of some help to you
well until i can find the man power and the money i have done a temp job with the tarpaulin and just put it to the test :lol: :lol:its just poured down literally , i draped it down the back of the houses so it touches the floor and srcewed it into place along the back of the houses to the main beams with 2'1s and then pulled it out so it is about 5 ft in front of the houses tacked on top of 2'1 posts which are quite firmly into the ground ok i have to bend slighty to get to the houses but that isnt a prob as long as the houses are dry which is what they are now also i have draped somedown the front of the posts about 1 ft so that may stop some rain getting to close to the houses and knocking of any water that builds up on top isnt to bad as i go out there very regular anyway and thats stupidly quite fun to do :lol: it does look ugly but i'm sure the girls dont mind .i just have more house to sort out later thats in the extension part of the run .
p.s i would put pics on here but i cant get them to load of this site for some reason .
p.s i would put pics on here but i cant get them to load of this site for some reason .
karminski said:
Hi Karminski
If you go to the Photos of Chickens section on the Menu above, at http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=77 you'll find a thread on posting pics to the site which I found helpful.
this is what i have done its not what i want but it does the job and it only cost £25 only prob is its to low i keep hitting my head on the beams underneath :lol:yippe it worked how cool
p.s i have the post there to keep the roofs open just a bit to let more fresh air though
only prob is its to low i keep hitting my head on the beams underneath :lol:yippe it worked how cool p.s i have the post there to keep the roofs open just a bit to let more fresh air though
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chrismahon
Well-known member
Hi Karminski. Those bins look a good idea. Where did you get them from and what modifications did you have to do? Where does the water get in?
you can get them from anywhere homebase , argos pretty much any garden centre and they range from £100 - £150 , all i have done is put roosting bars in which is normally right in the middle going length ways about 1 foot up and drilled vent holes in at the top during the summer when its hot the roofs can be wedged open to pretty much any height you feel comfortable with as long as you know your run is rat proof of course so far i havent had any prob , the rain seems to go down the back of the houses to the base and just gets in which was really driving me crazy which is why i was wanting to roof my run or do something , i did manage to do this myself with the help of my 7 yr old nephrew but later that day a older guy came over and he'll always help me and we did it better but its already been tested and it works really well now it can rain as much as it likes as i now know my girls will be able to go indoors and not get wet and damp plus side is red mites cant live in there 
. i have been told that they can have a prob with condensation during the winter but i only have 3 or 4 birds per house so i am hoping it wont be a prob and if they do become to cold then i can place cardboard on the inside if need be .
. i have been told that they can have a prob with condensation during the winter but i only have 3 or 4 birds per house so i am hoping it wont be a prob and if they do become to cold then i can place cardboard on the inside if need be .forgot to add marigold thanks for the link now i can post piccies of my girls and my poss cockeral who may have to go to cicky heaven if i cant find him home well thats only if he crows though i tell him every morning not to :lol:
