Archive for the Chicken Run Category

Build Your Own Tasteful, Simple, Inexpensive Chicken Run

Build a chicken run without digging post holes, without messing with cement and using minimal tools and materials.

Though The Smart Chicken Coop sells predator-proof chicken runs, we encourage our customers build their own runs, or to use our Smart Coop runs in combination with a homemade run. (Email us if you want details on using the combo.) The more area you have for your hens to roam, the happier they will be, which most often means the girls will be quieter and they will have far fewer pecking order issues. This, in turn, keeps the hens healthier, which means more eggs.

Plan Your Run Design

A. Decide whether you want your run to be completely predator-proof or a run for daytime use. This article focuses on a daytime run, which means that you, the hen keeper, must ensure that the hens are safely locked in their coop at night or rely on an Auto Chicken Door Opener. If you want a completely predator-proof run, then visit our predator-proof run page. Predator-proof wire fencing is quite a bit more expensive, so we use welded wire.

Categories Caring for Coops, Chicken Care, Chicken Run, Winter Preparation

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Cold Weather and Chickens

The first winter I had chickens, I spent a bunch of time hanging plastic tarps inside the coop to keep the girls warm and free from draft. It was a major pain and it looked ugly. Imagine my surprise when I visited a lady with 50 hens who lived about 30 minutes from me. She didn’t even have a coop; just an enclosure to protect them from predators! It dawned on me that chickens are birds with feathers—like the ones who sleep outside in trees all winter long.

That said, we here in Southern California rarely deal with freezing temperatures (it was 52 degrees last night…mid December), and very cold weather does bring a set of challenges that need to be addressed. So….