Even if you intend to let your flock free range, you will likely want to have an outdoor space for them that is protected from predators.  Where I live, hawks, coyotes, and bobcats are common. But even in urban areas, raccoons, foxes and rodents can cause harm to your birds.  All are crafty and opportunistic, and while I haven’t lost a bird yet to a critter, I know plenty of folks who have.  One friend lost four of her 10 birds to coyotes that dug under a fence.  Another lost several to a bobcat that jumped over the fence.  Still another lost two to a hawk that flew from above into a partially covered run.  And others have inadvertently provided disease-carrying rats with a nightly feast of chicken feed.  It’s a little extra work to make a Fort Knox chicken run, but trust me, it’s worth it.

While you’re at it, you’ll also want to incorporate features that protect your girls from weather extremes.  Adult chickens can handle freezing temps, but they have a real hard time in excessive heat without some shade.  Furthermore, you’ll want to keep your chicken run dry.  Trust me, nothing smells worse than wet chicken manure!

So here’s what I did:

• First, I sited the coop and attached run in an area of my yard that gets morning sun and afternoon shade. It’s within our fenced garden area, under a large tree which provides a bit of extra protection from rain and snow; and next to our shed where the feed and other supplies are stored.

• I enclosed the entire chicken run in hardware cloth, top, bottom, sides. Yep, the entire thing! And I made sure there was at least a four inch overlap at all the seams that I then wired together with more wire. Why was that important? Because about a year later I discovered a rat inside the run, feasting on chicken feed, and he was getting in at one of the seams that I had neglected to wire together. If you really want to keep everything out, it’s the only way to go.

• The run has a wood frame to which the hardware cloth is stapled. It’s tall enough that I can stand in it for daily feeding and maintenance. The roof is sloped and topped with clear corrugated plastic sheets to let light in while keeping our PNW rains out.

Two years in, it’s proven to be a very good set up. Are there things I wish I had done differently, you ask? Indeed, Dear Reader, there are a few. Look for Part 2 (here) to find out what more I could/should have incorporated into our chicken haven.