Need help with a cheap chicken run for 5 chickens

[Chickenreds]

Just need a sturdy chicken run that can be safe from predators. My budget for this is 150-200 At night I can manually transport them into the coop

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Just need a sturdy chicken run that can be safe from predators. My budget for this is 150-200 At night I can manually transport them into the coop

Which Predators? That price won't buy much hardware cloth...


what do you have available free that you can upcycle?

and where are you located? What's available to me at Lowes/HDepot may not be readily available in Canada, or Mexico, or Peru, or the EU...

 

[Chickenreds]

Which Predators? That price won't buy much hardware cloth...


what do you have available free that you can upcycle?

and where are you located? What's available to me at Lowes/HDepot may not be readily available in Canada, or Mexico, or Peru, or the EU..

I'm in Pennsylvania and the predators are raccoons and hawks. Don't really have anything I can upscale either. I've seen some runs online but I doubt those ones are strong enough.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm in Pennsylvania and the predators are raccoons and hawks. Don't really have anything I can upscale either. I've seen some runs online but I doubt those ones are strong enough.

That's right. Nothing prefab in that price range is going to work for you. The hawks means it has to be covered, and trash panda can defeat almost any defense.

If you had only larger, ground based predators, a roll of fence and some poles would do it for you - but trash panda will reach right thru a chain link or woven wire fence, grab a bird and pull enough of it out to kill and start eating.

I'm a think on it, but nothing comes immediately to mind. hopefully someone else will have a bright thought.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Raccoons (and almost everything else) can rip through chicken wire, don’t use it. They can’t get through chain link, so you could use a large outdoor dog kennel/run. Do know that raccoons can reach through that to grab birds by the edge so you’ll want to add hardware cloth to the bottom portion.

 

[BDutch]

The cheapest option I have seen is a hoop coop/run. But you still need to cover it with good hwc and put it in or on the ground too against digging.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Will raccoons dig in? I have pavers around everything (which won’t stop canines or big predators), but we do have raccoons and opossum.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I started my hoop coop build HERE. its roughly 8x12, approx 96 sq ft, you can walk inside it comfortably, and it won't fit in that budget.

Unfortunately with panda or possum, they will simply climb any wall till you run out of hardware cloth protection. and they can easily make their way thru the gaps in a typical cattle panel. Hardware cloth, as we have all found, is expensive.

/edit for clarity, I (a) accept a lot more risk [and reality] of predator losses than most; and (b) located this coop INSIDE a pasture protected by electric fencing. I use it as part of my "see and be seen" process for recently incubated chicks before they join the main flock, who truly free range (and are more attractive targets for many predators).

 

[Jimmy W]

I am also in PA, south Central and there are foxes and coyote's as well as Hawks, coons and possums here. I do not believe you can accomplish what you want for that price range. I have a 5 x 7 coop with a 8 x 12 run and I am in around 1500 in 2024 dollars.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Closest I can get is, essentially, a Salatin-style chicken "tractor", 8' x 8' x 4' using this (or equivalent) in 8' foot sections, 1x each wall, 2x for the roof, and using the rest of the budget for 2x4x8 PT lumber for the frame. 4 for the bottom square, 4 for the top square, 3for the walls, 3 for the top. Your remaining $30 goes for screws, brackets, and some way to get chickens in and out.

a beefier version of this :