A covered and wrapped run makes all the difference

Last winter we did not have a covered run for the birds. This wasn't a huge issue for them since we had less birds and they have a big coop. They had enough space on cold days. This was an issue for me because I literally had to dig out the coop door after some bigger snowstorms. It also meant I had to shovel a path from their door if I wanted the chickens to come out of the coop at all. Most chickens do not like walking on snow. The ducks don't mind a bit but the chickens no snow for them! It just made snowy winter mornings hard. Before this winter set in we needed to cover and wrap some of the run. Not only to make my job easier but also we have added more birds and just the coop on those worst bitter cold or heavy snow days would not be enough space for them to be happy if they were shut in all day. It was not hard at all to cover and wrap the front part of the chain link run and in the end I was wishing we'd done it sooner.

Materials needed were lumber for a roof frame, clear roofing panels-these are PVC or poly-carbonate and wavy, most home DIY stores have them,  fasteners (screws) and plastic closure strips (these are wavy like the clear roofing and hold it in place),  heavy duty clear shower curtains, clear gorilla tape and zip ties. I got most of these material ideas from reading on chicken groups, I always think it's good to find out what people are really using and finding useful. I never would have guessed clear, heavy duty shower curtains to wrap the run in but they have worked so well and were so easy to install! All I had to do for the wrap was hang the shower curtains with zip ties to attach to the top of the run, place rocks on the bottom to hold them until the snow came, and I did end up taping the shower curtains together where each one met the next with clear gorilla tape. As for the roof it took my husband about a day to make the wooden frame and another couple days really just a couple hours here and there, to attach the clear roofing.

The now covered run, which is about 12' x 16'  has more than doubled the birds snow free living space. Even if they don't want to go out in the snow they can go outside into the covered run. They have a few boredom busters in the clear run such as a Christmas tree we gave them after Christmas, a ladder we let them keep for the winter, a couple plastic trays which I fill with sand or wood ash from time to time for dust bathing and some stick roosts here and there.

Roof frame with clear roofing (now snow covered) from underneath.

Putting up the heavy duty, clear shower curtains was easy with zip ties.

finished run, just in time it snowed son after completion.

And snowed some more.

And snowed and snowed and snowed.

The chickens are glad for their covered and wrapped run.

Cattle panel trellis/arch. This is great for climbing vegetables

We added an arched trellis made from cattle panels this gardening season. It has worked out so well. I hope to add another one next year. Three cattle panels, and 8 t-posts as well as fasteners were all it too to put together this trellis system for the garden. This year we grew cucumbers, some squashes and climbing beans on the trellis.

Two chicks for Miss Silkie

On October 5th, to our amazement, Mama Silkie hatched one of her eggs! I didn't think anything would come of this because she rather randomly collected eggs and was so young. She had 6 eggs total and on October 10th a second one hatched! The two chicks look completely different. We know they are half silkie because we let her sit on only silkie eggs but the roosters are of three different breeds.

The chicken coop

A few people have asked me about our chicken coop and the easiest way to show the progression seemed to be to do a blog post.

The coop is actually a shed kit from Lowes, you do have to buy flooring separately. Our order was 1 shed kit and 6 sheets of sub flooring.

Other materials that we needed to buy were vinyl flooring, 2 by 4's for roosting bars, nest boxes, a ceiling vent and several small round vents. Also one more window.

First step was to level the ground and put down cement blocks since the coop will be raised. The ducks enjoyed any part pf the process that involved digging and moving dirt, someone to find the worms for them!

Then we put down the floor a double layer of the sub flooring, 3 sheets per layer with a frame in between. Followed by assembling the walls, usually one of 4 kids in the family was called in to help hold up walls of pass tools as my youngest son Tristan is shown here.

 Then the roof went on, we had to buy shingles, they were not included.

Vents, some of them look like this:

A silkie was sized for roosting

Then everyone checked it our, ducks, chickens, kids....

Finally it was babies first night in the coop and I was nervous and barred the door with bricks but they did fine.

Because they were getting so big they moved in before the shingles were on and finishing touches were done. The birds enjoyed watching the building process and took advantage of ladders and such. They LOVE being under the coop on hot days, I'm so glad we made it a raised coop even though it's large.

The ducks have a section which at first was a large dog kennel on one side, this is still in the process of being finished off so they have their own little part (so they don't get the coop all wet at night, all the birds do fine together in the daytime and outdoors).

We've changed the roosting bars and added nest boxes, plus interior walls.

We added a second window and a pop door to the back fenced area. They have about 110' of 6' chain link for their secure area, it has been buried, reinforced with hardware cloth (more is being added)  and is in the process of having netting added to the roof. Their limited free range is much larger and is only secured by 4' welded wire fencing but a goal is to continue buying 6' chain link and replacing welded wire as we can afford and time allows so their limited free range will be bigger and more secure.

The chickens and ducks seem happy with their coop and runs and so far it is keeping them safe. We will continue to change and improve it as we can. I think this coop is great because there is room for this rather adorable next generation too.