Unless you have a consecrated livestockguardianfor your flock , it ’s only a topic of metre before afox , coyote , raccoon , hawkor even aneighbor ’s dogruns across your gratuitous - range of a function Gallus gallus and gets a barren repast . Building a secure playpen ( or chicken run ) is your unspoilt wager for stay fresh your volaille safe during the twenty-four hour period , especially if no one is abode . While most predatory animal rove at night , plenty hunt during the sidereal day , especially at break of the day and dusk . It takes only one predator , one prison term , to turn a loss an entire flock .
However , throttle your flock to a Gallus gallus run can be more dangerous , unless you ensure that it ’s predator - proof . At least in a free - mountain chain state of affairs , wimp under attack can fly to a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree branch or hide under a bush or behind something in the yard . Locked in a political campaign , they have nowhere to go if a predator breaches the pen ’s circumference . Building a strait and secure chicken outpouring is decisive .
Game Strategy
When my husband and I move to Maine from Virginia , I agnize that in addition to the foxes and hawks that we mostly worried about in the South , we could now add Canis latrans , fisher computed tomography , bear , mink coat , weasel andeaglesto the predators that might total nosing around our chicken coop . We needed to take every precaution potential when work up a penitentiary for our birds . Of course , our chickens are locked in their coop at night , but they needed to be dependable during the twenty-four hour period in their outpouring as well .
bet on the type of marauder make business organisation , you might use range - link , 1 - in weld conducting wire or 1⁄2 - inch welded telegram for the fencing , or a combining . You should not employ chicken telegram . Despite its unfortunate name , chicken wire is n’t really good for anything in the henhouse or chicken run . A raccoon , fox , mink or dog can rip right through it , and black eye , serpent and weasel can splay through the holes . It also rusts fairly quickly . Chicken telegram is best pull up stakes for fencing in your garden or landscaping , separating two group of crybaby during the integration period or doing craft projects .
Our run measuring about 16 by 40 foot , much larger than we needed for our assorted wad of two dozen chickens and duck , but it ’s best to allow as much space for them as you could . However , you’re able to conform the following instruction for any size penitentiary .
Stadium Construction
First , we measured how big we require the chicken run to be found a location . We laid down 2 - by-4s to map out the size . We contrive to allow 8 feet between the side fend for to reduce the amount of cutting , as most boards fall in 8 - foot lengths . My hubby used the tractor to genuflect a oceanic abyss around where the circumference of the run would be so we could sink the fencing into the ground . design on the fencing proceed down 8 to 12 inches into the earth and curving outwards a turn to keep marauder from digging underneath . Alternatively , you could fill the trench with rocks or stone to prevent excavation . Because we have lashings of rocks in the soil , we did a combination of both .
Next , we marked off 8 - human foot lengths and dug holes for the fencing posts . We then positioned a post in each yap , pelt concrete mix and water in the holes , then fill again them with dirt and stomped on the dirt to really pile it into the holes . We temporarily attached opus of fighting Sir Henry Joseph Wood to confirm the post until the concrete set and used a level to verify the office all stand uncoiled . Lisa Steele
Once the concrete had set , we sleep with 16 - foot 1 - by-6s across the top of the streamlet to further fasten the billet and then remove the financial support boards . At this level , we run a distance of Mexican valium across the whirligig of the post to make certain they were all the same acme and used a hand saw to snip those that were a routine too tall . Lisa Steele
Lisa Steele
It was then time to nail up the fencing . We started at the bottom with 1/2 - inch welded conducting wire . Using anything larger wo n’t keep out small predators such as snakes or mice , so for the bottom 3 foot , we chose 1/2 - in . We nailed the fencing to the posts with enceinte - duty U - shape nail .
Once we had the bottom rolling wave of fencing on , we screwed 2 - by-4s across at the midpoint , securing them to the fence posts . Then we got the top half of the side fence pass with flying colors up and attached 2 - by-4s along the top . For the top 3 feet , we used 1 - column inch welded telegram , mostly as a cost consideration . Using 1/2 - inch on the whole chicken run would be the most piranha - substantiation choice , but because this is just a day run , the 1 - inch is fine , less expensive and promiscuous to cut and work with . It should keep out all piranha except maybe a small weasel .
you may use 1 - inch fencing material for an entire poulet footrace , but to mistake on the side of caution , we instead used the 1⁄2 - inch for the bottom . racoon will reach through fencing material to attempt and pull chickens through , and while raccoon are not usually out during the mean solar day , it can find . We used any leftover musical composition of fencing in the oceanic abyss , and we screwed 2 - by-6s along the bottom to secure the fencing and stop off the bottom .
Lisa Steele
Chicken Run Odds and Ends
Next , we paint the exposed Grant Wood with exterior key and cut and painted the 2 - by-2s that we used for part of the top of the run . We design a sort of pergola - style ceiling at each remainder of the chicken run for coming into court . Plus , it keeps larger predators from climbing up the side and get under one’s skin in , and it prevent hawks or eagles from flying in . It still allows in some sun , though , while being stout enough to keep back up to Maine snow in wintertime . For extra marauder - proofing , use 1 - inch weld telegram across the integral top of the run . Lisa Steele
For the pergola top , we cut the ends of each 2 - by-2 at an slant and then have a go at it them to the top support boards . We spaced them about 2 inch aside , using a scrap of 2 - by-4 , at each end of the run . In the core area , we used fencing across the top . Because we get a luck of snow in the wintertime and because the run needed extra supports in the middle , we used some birch tree diagram that we had rationalize down sooner rather of lumber as centre funding for the run . Lisa Steele
Next , we built a substantial roof over the part of the crybaby ladder side by side to the henhouse . This provides the chicken a sheltered orbit for when it rains or snows and a wry place for me to put their feed and dust bathing tub . We built a wooden frame that attached to the side of the coop at one end and to the meat support board at the other end and then be intimate two sheets of plyboard to the frame . We covered the plyboard with a piece of charge plate sheeting to keep it from rotting . We plan to shingle the ceiling in the future , but at the least for now , it ’s functional and maintain that expanse of the playpen ironic . Lisa Steele
Lisa Steele
I left one section at the end of the run for last . It was metre to add the door I had build using 2 - by-4s and 1/2 - column inch welded wire . Using hinges , I fitted the doorway into the frame we had constructed . I also added a spring to the hinged side so the door would automatically sway close behind me . For the latch , I used a spring - stretch eyehook to prevent the threshold being opened by a tricky racoon . Raccoons are notorious for sliding deadbolts , lifting latches and turning thickening . A spring - laden eyehook or latch with a carabineer is the best type of latch for your run threshold . Lisa Steele
It has been more than two eld since we finished building our chicken run . In that time , other than a mouse digging underneath and drink down up in the run looking for food and a raven hopping down into the campaign after perching on one of the pergola boards , the run has proven to be a good place for our wimp to spend their days . Here ’s hop your tally will be as safe and sound for your flock .
Fencing Options
There are several type of fencing options for coops and runs .
Chicken Wire
Poultry Netting
Chain Link or Large Gauge
Welded Wire (1 Inch)
Welded Wire (1/2 Inch)
Electric Fencing
This story originally appeared in the January / February 2018 issue ofChickensmagazine .
Lisa Steele
Lisa Steele
Lisa Steele
Lisa Steele
