4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Cyber Chook]

I'm feeling quite down because I can't get to my girls and get to know them . So I'm thinking that what I need is a run, and wondering about other people's experiences. I've looked at some of the chicken run inspiration photos, which are indeed inspiring, if a little awe-inspiring too. I'm fairly handy, but it looks like A Big Job.

 

My question is, have people found that it's a lot cheaper to make your own, or, by the time you've got all the materials together, and hopped around the garden cursing every time you bang a nail into another finger, is it worthwhile buying a ready-made one?

 

I found a nice-looking site and run on the internet, a company in Cambridgeshire, called Aviaries 4U.

 

I'm feeling quite confused, and would really welcome any help with this

 

Caroline

[redfrock]

I think it depends on how 'handy' you are. I personally couldn't build one, but my husband is a dab hand. It was certainly a fraction of the price of one from flytesofancy, but maybe not as aesthetically pleasing, although I personally am thrilled with it. The most expensive cost was the 16g inch by inch weld mesh to make it fox proof

 

 

It has now been extended

 

 

and since then the eglus have been sold and the cubes wired in instead. Please excuse the very messy garden . It is now tidied and sorted The corrugated plastic on the bottom, and the pieces of wood were a temporary fixture for when we had a poorly chook and wanted to give her some shelter from the wind.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I can understand your dilemma, Caroline. I look enviously at all these fab runs and wish I could build one myself cheaply. I'm handy-ish but have no DIY experience. OH is hand-less . I suppose it depends how easily you could build it yourself, how stressed it would make you and how easily you could source the materials. And how much time it would take.

[Cate in NZ]

As the others have said it really depends on your ability at DIY and the time and patience that you have to build one. Whichever alternative you choose it needs to be strong and durable in order to keep out wily Mr Fox.....it's not simply a matter of building a structure to keep the chickens in.

 

Some forum members have fabulous DIY runs, I'm quite about some of them, but personally I know that neither I nor my hubby have the DIY skills to construct a good enough run for the chickens, so I would choose to buy every time, even though the initial outlay would definitely be cheaper .

 

Good luck with the decision though, and do post pics of the final creation when you've done it won't you

[Egluntyne]

I bought mine. Neither Him Indoors nor I have the time nor the expertise to construct one.

 

Plus.....I had read several glowing recommendations re the Flytesfancy Poultry Protection Pen that i decided to go for it.

 

I am extremely pleased with it.

 

[WitchHazel]

My DH built our run, but then he's really great at DIY. He built it in panels, which he then screwed together, so that we can extend it later if necessary.

 

It was probably a bit cheaper than buying one, but we used really high quality materials. He could have "knocked one up" fairly cheaply, but he takes a lot of pride in his work.

 

We used the images on here, plus the websites that sell runs, as inspiration.

 

If he had said he didn't want to build it, then I wouldn't have hesitated in buying one. Egluntine mentioned FlyteSoFancy, their runs look great. I also liked Regency Poultry, and someone on here (can't remember who, sorry) had a lovely run built by a guy she found on Ebay. You tell him what you want, he builds it in sections, then comes and puts it up on site. His work also looked good.

[*mummy_hen*]

I come up with the ideas and the other half makes it for me!! We wanted the house and enclosed run really close to the house so wanted to make comething that fitted into the space perfectly....this is it. IN the future we may extend or make them something else but for now, this will be a palace for our poor ex-batts when they arrive.

Personally we got a great sense of achievement when it was finished and we had designed and made it ourself but ultimately the biggest factor will be do you have the time?

This took us pretty much a solid 10 days from start to finish!

 

http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=47292151&photo_id=1686721185

[redfrock]

this will be a palace for our poor ex-batts when they arrive.

 

http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=47292151&photo_id=1686721185

 

That would be a palace for anybody - it is beautiful!

 

I also adore Cinnamon's octagonal creations. I think ours is what you would call 'utilitarian'! And I agree with WitchHazel about the quality of the materials - that also increased the cost for us. We could have made it cheaper, but we wanted something that would last and that no predator would have a hope in hell's chance of getting in, meaning that I sleep easy at night. Ultimately it depends on the skills you have - my husband is known for his skill with his hands - particularly with welding etc. He can build most things, and creates the design in his head. He has recently built a really beautiful hedgehog house, he built our rabbit hutches (and people were asking where we bought them, because they were so good - now people ask him if he will make them for them). I on the other hand am as useless as a chocolate fireman.

[Tessa the Duchess]

Hi Caroline. I agree with other's comments about quality of materials, using the best really bumps up the costs. I was inspired by seeing Scrunchee's

run which was built by the Cambridge aviary builder. Showed it to DH who reckoned we could replicate it at half the price In the end it cost about the same except that we had the added cost of paving slabs for it to sit on. We built ours in panels and then screwed them together, lifting the panels is a 2 person job imho, so you would need a bit of help at some stage. If you build your own you can customize it for instance we decided on an inward opening door to make chicken escapes more difficult when we open up the run. It's a difficult choice, but honestly if I didn't live with a very handy man I would have been on the 'phone to the Cambridge guy like a shot

 

Tessa

[Cyber Chook]

It was fantastic finding all these replies, and all very helpful too. Your runs are just amazing. I can't believe I'm so happy sitting at a computer admiring other people's chicken runs. Well, I can really

I'm veering towards spending the money and getting one made - I'll draw something and see if I can get a good price from a good local DIY man i know (no, unfortunately not the DH). If that's not much cheaper, I might as well take the plunge and order one ready-made. Expensive, but hopefully a good investment, and I can always sell it further down the line.

 

THANKS EVERYONE! I love this site

Caroline

[WitchHazel]

If you are getting someone to quote, make sure you specify what you want gfor mesh,. Someone who doesn't know much about chickens would assume that "chicken wire" (which is very cheap) is what you use - but you don't. Chicken wire is for keeping chickens OUT, not for keeping chickens safe.

 

Make sure you specify weldmesh, minimum 19 guage and preferably 16 guage. You'll also need to decide what size you want the holes to be, as this impacts the price considerably. Omlet's run is 2x1 inch, don't go for anything bigger. (Mine is 1" square).

[Tessa the Duchess]

Meant to say.. If you design your run with the Cube fixed to the outside, you could possibly sell the Cube run which would help with the costs.

 

Tessa

[Abbey Road Girl]

Hi Caroline,

 

At first I thought you had purchased the Cube without a run. I guess you do have the Cube run but want a walk-in run. (Someone here managed to create a taller run door, but that's probably not relevant to your situation.)

 

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[Cyber Chook]

Thanks for taking the time to give me these extra tips, all useful things to bear in mind and save on making costly mistakes

 

I never realised there was so much to this chicken-keeping malarkey! I've already learned a lot, though, and mostly from here.

 

Caroline

[chelsea]

we bought ready made aviary panels from a local garden centre and constructed it and adapted it ourselves. The aviary panels cost approx £200.

 

doing the walk in run is one of the best things we've done...I dont feel guilty now if we have to go out!

[AJuff]

We have spent months thinking about a walk in run, a bigger eglu run, a bought run, a convert space run, etc. We have changed our minds numerous times as like you we want to get it right.

 

We have finally decided to extend the eglu run again (convertor and extension) and link it to a redundant space along the side of our patio. This gives a walkin run which is mostly in shade and an eglu and run in the sunny part of our garden. It fits very well into our space and will look nice when it's finished.

 

Today I made a panel to keep the hens out of my raised bed and put up half the roof to stop them flying out over the fence to get to it. OH showed me how to make tennant joint which was really easy. I think the hardest thing was what wood to buy as I looked a right idiot trying to choose it!!!

[BarbaraJ]

I think ours was around 150-200 with the coop too. we were working on a budget thats why i wasn't allowed the eglu but i am happy with what i have now, i'd love a cube in a few years to house more chickens and extend the run but if i did that i think i would make it big enough to leave them in it most of the time as the poo gets annoying at times and mor that 3 would be a nightmare lol

[moomin]

My husband isn't handy with wood. He's handy with lots of DIY projects but not anything involving wood (which cuts out about 75% ).

 

So we ordered a run from Tony at Aviaries4U, it wasn't cheap, but we both work full-time and to be honest we don't have the time or the energy to devote every waking hour to extra DIY projects (in addition to those that come as part & parcel of maintaining a house!).

 

We picked it up on Friday as we were out of Tony's delivery area, we hired a van through work which cost us 50 quid. The build quality looks very good and he makes them to spec. Mine is 7ft X 10 ft and it has flaps at the end of the run so that I can empty the Eglu poo trays which will be mounted on a platform off of the floor. I nicked the ideas of this site (thanks Rona & Chelsea!!).

 

We are going to put it together once we've finished building the new patio

[Cooks]

you can build them quite cheap (even using top grade materials) if you have someone able to do the work for you. However spending a bit to have someone make it isn't a bad thing, if they make it to your specification They dont ask you to labour for them that way

 

You could advertise on freecycle for any bits you need if you choose to make it yourself. I didn't but others have.

 

Here's mine that hubby has just completed, it now has kick boards all around the edge to stop water splashing in from the sleepers and also the bedding being kicked out.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm5/hullahoop777/SP_A0124.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm5/hullahoop777/SP_A0127.jpg