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Hi All,

 

We are going to build our chickens a permanent run, however I am unsure which would be the best thing to do either buy a run or build one. As we have 15 chickens we will need this run to be very large and I am also worried about costs!

 

I am also really unsure if we should have a base to the run (wood chip etc.) or to leave it as grass? Also how big should this run be for this number of chickens?

 

The other thing I was interested to know was if the run should have a roof of just be open to the sky, with netting over to stop the fox?

 

What have others done, how much did it cost (if you don't mind me asking) and if you brought one were did it come from?

 

Many Thanks

 

Michelle

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hi i have a 3m x 3m run made from weld mesh, i have got it on paving slabs and it has a permanent roof.

i cant give you a cost i am sorry because my other half built it for me he is a steel fabricator, he does keep reminding me that they are the most expensive 2 chickens in the country though.

 

as you have so many chickens i would think you would need a very very big run which would be very expensive whichever way you did it

 

i am not much help really am i

:wink:

sorry

sarah

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Ours is (bar the tweaking) just finished in the last month. It is 2.5x3.5m. It cost around £200 to build, around £100 on wood, £50 on weldmesh and chicken wire, £50ish on roof and guttering. If we were going to do it over, I'd buy a run as OH has put a lot of blood, sweat and (nearly!) tears into it.

 

If you are going to have a run I would say it makes less work if it's covered, it makes it easier to clean and less smelly. Our run has only had the roof on it for 2 weeks. Since the roof went on, I have taken a layer of soil off and put aubiose down. Before that it was just chicken wire and it means the poop just gets washed into the earth by the rain, which isn't good for the chooks. Old-school poultry keepers used to have 2 runs, rotating between the 2, one for the chooks to be in and the other being limed and rested, to stop the ground becoming "fowl-sick", a build up of chicken poop and parasites in the soil. Regarding grass, you'd have to allow a lot of grass for the chooks to not eat it all in a week.

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There is a man in the Cambridge area who has built several runs for people on the forum. We have 15 hens too and we have just asked him for a quote for a 4mtr x 7mtr run. He was very competitive...and a lot cheaper that I would have expected for a covered run. His e-mail address is:

 

aviaries4u@aol.com

 

He delivers to the East Anglian region...not sure where else.

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Golly! Having just read how much a ready made run costs :shock: I think we will have to make a home made run!

 

Any tips at all on any aspect? :D

 

Am I right in saying I will need (at least) 15sq mts for my chooks? Also do I need 2 runs? :think: One to be left and the other in use? One other question if you have 2 runs, is it 15sq mt per run, or 15sq mt between the runs? :anxious:

 

If we did not have a roof on the run, how high does the netting have to be? or is it just not worth not having a roof?

 

Thanks

 

Michelle

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We actually copied the Aviaries 4U type of run - i.e. made in sections. We did 2 x 4 sections of 3', but used rough cut instead of prime timber, which made it much cheaper. Also, on the advice of people on the forum, we bought our roofing and weldmesh from Screwfix. The whole thing was about £200, including things like door bolts. We assembled it on a rectangle of paving slabs, but left the centre as bare earth, which we cover with hemcore. When we change the hemcore, we rake out the old (marvellous compost) and put down garden lime before adding the new. This stops the soil from becoming sour.

We are certainly not carpenters, so if we could do it, anyone could. The woodyard cut the wood for us, which made things really easy. You just need an electric drill and screwdriver.

 

See here

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The run - I would probably buy one as it has to be large. It will have to be very sturdy, & larger structures are more prone to be unstable. Depends how handy you are,really :lol:

Also, if you use proper good materials (which is well worth it,we had to rebuild our first run after a year), it does work out to be quite expensive.

Do use good, weldmesh with a small gauge & pressure treated timber.

 

Base - I would leave it to grass, which,as we all know,won't last long anyway.

When they have done away with the grass (give them a week!), put a nice deep layer of Aubiose down. This can be dug through by the hens & replaced by you when it need to be.

 

Roof - YES! Polycarbonate sheets are best.

 

I think Flytesofancy have some nice runs,with roofs 8)

 

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/acatalog/Poultry_Protection_Pen.html

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Their nice but such alot of money, i suppose if you bought an eglu they aren't too bad price wise but to me they are lol

My wood wasn't pressure treated but all the wood at ground level is on a row of bricks so hopefully won't rot and has been treated to 2 coats of fence paint.

We did use good bits of wood though 2x1 and 3x1's oh and 2x2 lol its not going anywhere but is helped by the side of the shed!

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My run which is almost finished, bar the roof, cost 350 quid :shock: But, 130 was for the paving slabs and sand, plus 20 to hire the angle grinder to cut the paving slabs to fit perfectly :) So the actual run, weldmesh and that special wood cost 200 which I was expecting. I hope it is going to make my life easier, and my chickens lives happier, if so it will be worth all the money.

 

Tessa

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We actually copied the Aviaries 4U type of run - i.e. made in sections. We did 2 x 4 sections of 3', but used rough cut instead of prime timber, which made it much cheaper. Also, on the advice of people on the forum, we bought our roofing and weldmesh from Screwfix. The whole thing was about £200, including things like door bolts. We assembled it on a rectangle of paving slabs, but left the centre as bare earth, which we cover with hemcore. When we change the hemcore, we rake out the old (marvellous compost) and put down garden lime before adding the new. This stops the soil from becoming sour.

We are certainly not carpenters, so if we could do it, anyone could. The woodyard cut the wood for us, which made things really easy. You just need an electric drill and screwdriver.

 

See here

 

Carol your Run looks like one of those brought jobs! Fab!!! What do you have on the roof of your's?

 

Hubby and I have been talking and I think £200 is the max we would like to spend! Our run needs to be much larger than some mentioned but we have already got some wood which we were given (although not enough for the whole thing). We have some paving slabs which came from freecycle, which maybe we could mount the whole structure on. Will be checking out the screwfix book to find out there prices. I think there is more to these chicken runs than meets the eye :roll: !

 

Out of interest those who made there runs how long did they take to make? Approx in hours? any more pics anyone?

 

Michelle

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Out of interest those who made there runs how long did they take to make? Approx in hours? any more pics anyone?

 

Michelle

 

Building the run panels etc., probably took about 2/3 days. The thing that really took a long time was digging and leveling the area where it will live.

We have London clay soil :evil: and it is a nightmare to dig and level.

 

Tessa

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HI.

Have you had a look at the 'Chicken runs inspiration' sticky? Its got loads of pictures of different peoples runs. I found it a real help when looking into making mine. (I'm happy to say I didn't keep a running total of what my run cost, so I can remain blissfully ignorant!) As for the base. Mine are on earth with a layer of wood chip. They scratch the wood chip around to look for beasties in the soil. I also gave them a single roll of turf last week, just so they had something different to scratch at. They seemed to love it, but its not going to last long. Still at £3 a go, I can afford to replace it! Good luck run building.

Edited by Guest
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Hello everyone

I have been reading your posts with interest because my 3 hens are ruining the garden :x I was planning to fence one side of the garden off with picket fencing and a gate and just leave the eglu in there. I had no idea that I would need a roof :shock: I was just planning to poo pick every few days and let them out in the garden when it is dryer and for less time. At the moment they free range all day. I would end up with a 6 foot by 20 foot run. Is this adequate and is a roof really necessary if they have the eglu run with it's winter shade inside the pen :? There would also be a couple of small trees in the pen. To my mind this seems no different to then having the whole garden, they will just not have as much room as before :?

Julie x

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Julie, you would need a roof if you want it to be fox proof, it depends whether you want to take the risk if you freerange them without supervision. Also a roof protects against birdflu (I beleive, from reading on here - I've no experience!).

 

Please could I sneak in a quick question whilst we're talking about runs? - we are going to get one (or build our own) eventually - is it OK to have it with a fully slabbed floor? Or better with just slabs around the edge to prevent foxes digging under? I would have thought all slabs would be more hygenic and easier to clean, but less fun for the chickens??

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Hello Ros

Thank you for your reply.

Actually what I am really doing is making the "free range area" smaller by fencing off part of the garden. They will still have the eglu and run inside this area and I will still put them in the run when I go out. You know I really did not realise what a mess 3 hens can make :shock: though I hope things will be better in the summer when it is dryer :? They also seem to end up costing more than you think, the fencing and gate will cost well over £100. I did not think I would need to fork out for fencing when I got the hens but to be fair I guess I could have kept them in the run full time, I just didn't want to!

Are you going to have your eglu and run inside your pen? can you use slabs for the whole base and just put wood chips in the run? To be honest I find the whole thing confusing!!!!!!!!!! Should I be worried about bird flu with my hens running free in the garden? Should I be worried about foxes when I have a dog? I was told that a fox will not enter a garden if it smells a dog :roll: As for keeping the area clean I was just going to poo pick and rake it over, changing the wood chips every few months. Your slabs sound like a better idea as you can hose them down every so often. If I slab my 20 x 6 foot area it will cost even more money and I really don't want to have to spend even more. :shock:

I like browsing this site but every time I do I get more worried about cost and am I doing things right :oops:

 

I just realised that with the cost of the eglu, hens, extras, wood chips, fencing and repairing damage to lawns and flower beds the hens have cost me around £1,000 :shock::shock::shock: ...so far!

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I just realised that with the cost of the eglu, hens, extras, wood chips, fencing and repairing damage to lawns and flower beds the hens have cost me around £1,000 :shock::shock::shock: ...so far!

 

I know what you mean about cost it is frightening! I'm glad we are getting enough eggs for the chickens to pay for there food now :D . I had to laugh when my Dad came round and said 'you have to think of it as the first egg has cost you £400, the rest will be free'!!!! £400 and the rest :roll:

 

Does anyone know if it is true about the dog/fox thing? As we have two dogs maybe we do not need to worry. We have not noticed any foxes around our garden ever, but I guess we now have a reason for them to be here!!!

 

We have got Omlet netting which is suitable for connection to a battery to make it electric. I am wondering if this will keep the foxes out? My Dad who used to have 300 chickens said no foxes even got in when he had his fences 'on'. However he lost 53 one day when he forgot to switch it back on!!! :shock: I'm not sure what to do now as the size of run I would have to have may be to expensive for us to build (I will have to do a proper add up), where as buying more netting and having a solar panel with connection will come in under our £200 budget!

 

I'm not worried about bird flu, none of us would be able to let our chickens free range ever if we were!!!

 

I had a look at the runs on the sticky, Gosh some people have some amazing runs! I wish I had the money to build one. Maybe if they start laying loads of eggs a day each, They will raise the money for there run :wink: . Until then I will have to think of something else!!!

 

Michelle

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Here's some photos of mine during construction and some of the features. I have posted some of them before but not yet got round to putting them in the proper place. I built it mostly myself although the OH planted the heavy duty weldmesh round the bottom edges and helped lift the roof up but I made all the panels and roof etc and put it all together. I cut up all the bits of wood to size and made a jig (or maybe a fixture, I'm never sure which is which) so that I could just lay out all the bits and screw them together and the panels would all turn out the same (more or less). I used the cheapest rough sawn battens from B&Q, weldmesh, metposts and corner posts came from ebay. I started off by keeping a record of how much I was spending but then decided it was best if I didn't know!! It took me ages as I was looking for a new job when I started and got one a bit too quickly so it ended up with lots of blood, sweat, tears and tantrums. I am pleased with it now but if I had to do it again I would definately want to get someone in who would just do it to my spec.

 

innerguard.jpg

Strong weld mesh to about 8 inches deep and 4"x4" posts in metpost spikes at each corner to attach the panels to.

outerguard.jpg

Fox proof (hopefully) skirt around the outside

roof.jpg

The roof being assembled at ground level

IMGP0970.jpg

Flap at the back for easy emptying of poop tray.

IMGP0976.jpg

Perspex sheeting on open part of "mezzanine floor" to give a bit of shelter.

IMGP0950-1.jpg

The (almost) completed run. Still got things I want to do and have now featherboarded the sides and back under the mezzanine floor so they have a nice dry sheltered bit in the winter and shade in the summer.

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Are you going to have your eglu and run inside your pen? can you use slabs for the whole base and just put wood chips in the run? To be honest I find the whole thing confusing!!!!!!!!!! Should I be worried about bird flu with my hens running free in the garden? Should I be worried about foxes when I have a dog? I was told that a fox will not enter a garden if it smells a dog As for keeping the area clean I was just going to poo pick and rake it over, changing the wood chips every few months. Your slabs sound like a better idea as you can hose them down every so often. If I slab my 20 x 6 foot area it will cost even more money and I really don't want to have to spend even more.

I like browsing this site but every time I do I get more worried about cost and am I doing things right

 

Hi Julie, sorry I didn't mean to worry you! This site is brilliant for learning about chickens I have been reading it for months :oops:

But it does make you worry a bit there are some horrendous stories about foxes, one poor lady recently lost 10 of her chooks to a fox. I'm a natural worrier - I have nightmares where I get my chickens then open my garden gate and there is a queue of foxes waiting to get in!! - Tho I don't think they'd bother using the gate tbh!! :roll: I think if you have a dog it does help keep them away.

 

Re runs - I am very envious of Rona's run in the pic's above, it's the kind of set up I am hoping to have with the eglu inside the run on a platform. But my husband is not good with wood he once built a rabbit run which ended up so large and unstable that it collapsed in a heap after 2 days! So we are going to buy one or get one made but with all the modifications Rona has it would probably cost a fortune, so we'll most likely end up with just the basic run.

 

We have recently started work on our garden, we are filling in our fish pond and re-slabbing the whole area. I have had to call Omlet to cancel my chooks although the eglu is still coming next week. I dont think it's fair on the chickens as we are hiring a hammer tool thingy to break up the exisiting concrete, and I'm also worried about the chickens pecking up builders sand and new concrete - I'm sure it wouldn't do them any good! So we are going to do the work first then get the chooks when it's done and get put the run on the slabbed area we've made. I just hope the drainage is OK though, I think I would like to leave them a bear earth floor with a thick layer of hemcore down.

 

We have the week off to get it sorted, the skips coming today - weather's going to turn on Sunday though - snow - bbrrrrrrrr!!! :(

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