run design

Hi all, hoping to get some advice before I start doing any real construction. After buying a bunch of items that were both probably too expensive and insufficient for my flock's needs, I realized that I needed to add quite a bit more run space to hit the suggested benchmarks that everyone was...

Hello, I am new to this site and wanted to share My coop. I am an engineer by day and think I did an ok job on my coop. I Designed and built this coop after a lot of planning and research. Tell me what you think! Please subscribe to my YouTube channel for future awesome engineering ideas...

We are in the process of building the run on our second coop. We are completely covering the run with 1/2 inch hardware mesh. On our first coop and run, we did the same thing - but then covered the entire run with metal and tarps. We are going to remove the tarps and cover the new run either...

Hello, We've just finished our new coop and 3x5meter run (or at least the structure) and are discussing the best way to do drainage for the run. It's in a low area of the yard and water pools, so I've got a gutter and french drain taking water off the roof and away, but I'm sure some rain will...

I have read some forum posts related to this topic, though I'm interested to get an answer for my current situation. I recently made a new feeder, one that is made of cardboard as I found it easier to craft my own than to just buy one. The design I came up with is a trough system, on one side...

I live on the Chesapeake Bay (Literally... on an island) in Maryland, and I am planning ahead on laying out the plants I want to grow in my chicken run. I want, ideally, to plant things that will be good for my chickens to eat, are anti-pest, provide coverage from predators and the sun, and are...

Hey everyone! I’m still researching and learning and plan to get my chickens in the spring. I have purchased a coop I found on marketplace (see picture) I plan to place this coop within my fenced in backyard but also I need to attach a run to it somehow because I have 2 dogs that would love a...

Hello All: I am a recent new homesteader and backyard chicken owner; living in Eastern PA. I bought my first set of chicks in June and received them on August 16th 2022. I have a total of 6 chickens; 2 WHITE Rocks, 2 Rhode Island REDs, and 2 BLACK Australorps. I built a 6 x 6 x 5 foot coop and...

Got a bird recovering from bumblefoot. Our run includes a catio addition that has some jumps that are more than a foot high, and they are wood landings that i can house down daily. Is there anything i can put on the landings to make it a bit easier on their legs when coming down, particularly...

I live in an area where hawks are . . . abundant. We are trying to design our run and are really wanting to avoid netting the top if possible. We'd like to do some pasture rotating and so the fence line will be changing often. Many sources I'm seeing say to just offer a place where the chickens...

I've raised chickens in the past but just now have the time to start building a real chicken coop, run, etc. Looking forward to designing, building and raising. Live on a lake now so have raised ducks in the past. may look into that also.

What could possibly go wrong? We currently have eleven fast-growing chicks! Plus, a charming old ramshackle 5x6 coop waiting for them outside that we need to rehab, with no attached run or anything like that, just a basic coop. DH said he wants to reinforce the coop for night-time and let...

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas for run design Right now my run is just open space (I’ll post a picture in a bit) and I was planning on adding perches and clutter to bring down some of the pecking that’s going on especially with the lower members in the pecking order but I need...

Hi all, This is a strange and random and probably stupid question. I found a really cool log in the woods by my house. It naturally as legs that act like "stands" and prop it up, making it a sort of low-level roosting bar. My chickens love lounging on things like this. I'd like to use it in...

We already purchased this chicken coop:https://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Plastic-Chicken-Coops/Formex-Large-Snap-Lock-Chicken-Coop-Up-to-8-chickens-p1269.aspx We want to provide more room and create a run for our girls. The only issue is how do we safely attach the run to the plastic? I was...

Hi, folks - in planning out our run, we know we'll have a roof (at least a partial one) and a predator apron, but I've seen photos of some runs with hardware cloth lining the entire height of each run wall, and others where it looks like the hardware cloth only goes up a few feet...

Hey all, I am new the site and am moving shortly to a home with a little space and a run-down chicken coop. I would like to fix it up and add on a nice sized run for my flock of around 8-10 that are currently in eggs sitting under a friend's hen. Background info: 1) I'm in central North...

We are planning to use sand in the coop for ease of cleaning but I’m concerned that the girls will get bored in the run with just sand. Thoughts? Add a raised bed with something else for variety? Small composting pile/bin? We are planning to do at least one grazing box. We need something...

I am planning to get three chickens (possibly bantams) with a 6x5 run. I was planning to put sand in part of it so that they could take dust baths, and was going to leave the rest as grass/dirt. I am planning to put hardware mesh under the coop to prevent anything tunneling in. Would that hurt...