Finally a dry chicken pen!

[speedy2020]

If you can get free wood chips, go for it. I think the sand work well on dry climate, but wet climate will be an issue in the few years.

 

[TheRealWitwiki]

Just watch out for snow and rain caving in the top with the plastic up there. Dont ask me how i know.....

Yep found that out the first heavy rain we had. The top filled with water and collapsed. I was poking holes in plastic to relieve the weight so I could push the broken boards up high enough to get some temporary screws in place. Haven’t had a chance to properly fix yet but at least I learned a good lesson. And now I have a soggy wet run again

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yep found that out the first heavy rain we had. The top filled with water and collapsed. I was poking holes in plastic to relieve the weight so I could push the broken boards up high enough to get some temporary screws in place. Haven’t had a chance to properly fix yet but at least I learned a good lesson. And now I have a soggy wet run again

Sorry to hear that, but that's the issues with tarping/plastic sheeting a "roof." Without a strong underlying structure and good slope water will always start gathering and pooling towards the middle of a set up like that.

You might need to just put up with a wet run this winter and aim to have something stronger/more permanent built by next winter.

 

[Chullicken]

Love the look of a clean, well maintained run! Like everyone else said above about sheathing. May want to consider PVC panels, clear. 4 x 8 which are about $15 a piece. On the roof anyway then you can continue using sheathing on the sides for the colder times of year~

 

[Kluk-Kluk]

Dont ask me how i know.....

I can't tell there's an interesting story here...

 

[Kluk-Kluk]

madly flapping plastic in a wind driven rain storm

I have a small run, and after dealing with stinky mud in the summer, I covered the whole run with a sheet of plastic that I simply held down with bricks and rocks. After the mad flapping that some others have also experienced, I took a staple gun and stapled the sheet to the wood frame of the run. Fortunately, the roof of the run (just fencing to keep out hawks) is at an angle, so water runs off. This will be my first winter with this setup, so it's not yet snow-tested.

 

[azygous]

Some areas get much more wind than others. If you have the good fortune to live in Ashland, Oregon, you may never experience so much as a stiff breeze, while out on the western prairies, you may never experience a calm day, or go so long as to have forgotten what it was like.

I'm only a little bit more fortunate that prairie dwellers. Wind can gust to 60mph here and that works loose even the most securely fastened plastic sheeting. It even loosens the sheet metal screws I've fastened my run roof panels with.

I've found that sticking a little square of duct tape onto the plastic sheeting before I insert a staple helps tremendously to prevent the wind from ripping the plastic from the staple. For a really secure installation of plastic sheeting, I lay a firring strip (narrow, thin strip of wood) over the edge of the plastic sheeting and screw that down with short wood screws.

 

[Peepsi]

So sand is ok for a chicken run? I know they need to eat grit, but I wasn't sure about sand, if they do a lot of pecking in it, if it would be too much?

Sand is good if you have less than six chickens, live in a desert where you don't have easy, cheap access to woodchips/leaves/shavings/other bedding, and if your run/coop is entirely roofed and partially enclosed. The sand cannot get wet, otherwise, as others said, it will freeze into clumps. And yes, you can never get the tiny poop bits entirely out, unless you use a Reptile Sand Scooper, which is labor-intensive ( https://www.chewy.com/zoo-med-repti...MIzMq3nsft5gIVAdbACh3l7gwaEAQYASABEgJq9PD_BwE )

I have sand, and it's worked for me, because my conditions are just right for sand, and it's cheap and plentiful. However, for those lucky enough to live outside of the desert, your best bet is the deep litter method.

 

[Folly's place]

@Kluk-Kluk , I hope you are ready to deal with the snow load, or your pen will collapse too. The snow won't just run off!
Mary

 

[Kluk-Kluk]

@Kluk-Kluk , I hope you are ready to deal with the snow load, or your pen will collapse too.

Yikes! It will be the first winter with this setup, so I'll have to sweep off as much snow as I can. One thing going for it is that it's under a very large spruce tree.