[jackie]

hi, we are new to getting chickens and my husband is building a hen run. It is going to be approx 2 metres high. Would this need a roof?

[joyfull]

hello and welcome. I'm sure one of the moderators will move this qustion over to the chicken pages  . I would put a roof on for a couple of reasons - 1) to keep the foxes out and 2) during the winter (and spring, summer and autumn  ) it will keep the rain, sleet and snow out thus helping to stop the ground turning to a muddy mess  . Joyxx

[Chookiechook]

My run didnt have a roof for the first couple of weeks..... we soon found that we needed one for the same reasons as above

The hens can now be out in all weathers and the pen never gets muddy, however much it rains

[Alby]

I would love a rof on mine  but not able to do it . If you can roof it you would make it easier for you to do all the chooky things in the wet weather,but, if not just join the rest of us and slip and slide and have a laugh 

 Welcome 

[karlooben]

my run is approx 10 m b y 6 and has a fruit netting roof just to keep out wild birds etc  , i would so love to be able to afford to place a proper roof on it but seeing that i am on the allotment site i dont see it being worth it as i could at any time be told to remove the birds or we could lose the site due to it being actual church ground but i will be making them smaller shelters over the winter until then its just extra wood chips on the floor .

[lucylou]

compltetl agrree - if you can put a roof on it will make all the difference, it was the best advice i got on this site. it really keeps the smell down and makes the ground easy to rake and stops it getting compacted. good luck with them

[bexy]

as well as the already said a roof will also stop other birds popping in for food and leaving their droppings behind.
When the bird flu scare was on everyone was told that they should have a roof on to prevent bird droppings falling in.

[scrappydoo]

compltetl agrree - if you can put a roof on it will make all the difference, it was the best advice i got on this site. it really keeps the smell down and makes the ground easy to rake and stops it getting compacted. good luck with them

  Hi I had an initial covering of chicken wire over my 5m (L) X 2m (H) X 2m (W) run, I then bought a couple of cheap tarpaulins from my local diy @ £5.99 each, and as others have said it keeps down the smell and allows the chooks to scrat about in relatively (not including todays horizontal stair rods ) dry conditions.

Best Regards

Steve

[grumpydad]

a roof in our weather is well worth the extra cost, means you can clean out and stay dry, that must be worth it.
 another wet day here, just for a change, but at least the chucks can go in when they are wet and dry off.

[karlooben]

while we have a post going about roofing what would be the best thing to use ? tarpaulins are good but i really dont find them that waterproof although they are very cheap , corrugated plastic is good  but surely they would get to hot in the summer , an then theres the black or green corrugated stuff which i cant remember the name of  and then using that would make the run darker most the time .

[raeburg]

onduline is what you were thinking of.  Didn't get too hot with plastic corrugated stuff, just toasty for dust bathing.

[karlooben]

thanks rae  i really think i am going to need to do a roof on mine after Christmas even if its only part of it but it will be done under the netting as that will help keep things in place  :mellow:i hope

[beulah59]

I worried about using a tarpaulin because our garden gets very windy and I could see it billowing and scaring the hens, if not blowing off altogether and disappearing into the distance!

[Hawthorn Harry]

I now have an image of Rae 'Dust-bathing' under corrugated plastic in the toasty warmth of his run!!!

[joyfull]

I now have an image of Rae 'Dust-bathing' under corrugated plastic in the toasty warmth of his run!!!

You may need to alter your image as I thought Rae was a female