Purchased runs that are actually good?

[sarahtar]

We're moving out of town soon, and we'll have a bazillion things to do, fix, make, etc. in the first month we're there. We also doubt that our current hen house will survive the move - it's the first house I built 20 years ago, and it's needed to be replaced for a few years now. Though I've always made my own chicken coops and runs, I'm going to move up in size now that I have more space, and I'm going to have a coop built for me, in the interest of saving some time and effort. I'd prefer to also purchase a run vs finding time to make one, but are there any that are actually GOOD?

I want to keep out predators (small and large), obviously.
I'm in Iowa, we get snow, sometimes a lot. I want to have part of the run covered but I also want it to not collapse under snow.
I want it tall enough for humans with a human door.
If I'm going to have to pay a gazillion dollars, I'll just make it myself.

Thanks!!

 

[Sammster]

TSC carries a brand called Producer's Pride. We bought one with an attached coop when we bought our original 5 girls. The coop isn't all that great, and we've since built a shed/coop. We attached it to the Producers Pride pen. That pen is strong, sturdy, will outlive me. I did wrap the lower portion of it with a hardware cloth skirt, for predators. And then I wrapped the upper portion with plastic hardware cloth to keep wild birds out. The roof of it is made from the same, sturdy panels as the sides. You can purchase a canvas canopy, separately. You can also purchase additional panels, if you ever want to enlarge the pen.

 

[GodLovesU]

I use a retriever dog kennel. It is expensive. Here’s the review I wrote on it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/retriever-dog-kennel.12137/

 

[Shadrach]

We're moving out of town soon, and we'll have a bazillion things to do, fix, make, etc. in the first month we're there. We also doubt that our current hen house will survive the move - it's the first house I built 20 years ago, and it's needed to be replaced for a few years now. Though I've always made my own chicken coops and runs, I'm going to move up in size now that I have more space, and I'm going to have a coop built for me, in the interest of saving some time and effort. I'd prefer to also purchase a run vs finding time to make one, but are there any that are actually GOOD?

I want to keep out predators (small and large), obviously.
I'm in Iowa, we get snow, sometimes a lot. I want to have part of the run covered but I also want it to not collapse under snow.
I want it tall enough for humans with a human door.
If I'm going to have to pay a gazillion dollars, I'll just make it myself.

Thanks!!

You're going to have to pay a gazillion dollars (My currency converter doesn't do gazillions ) to get anything worth having from what I've seen.
Best get the tools out and start looking at plans.

 

[Penpal]

Look for a carpenter in your new area. You should be able to find someone who either has experience building chicken coops, or who can follow a plan.

 

[StinkyAcres]

IF you decide to build a quick, inexpensive, but large and strong run I suggest looking into cattle panel hoop runs. Best thing since sliced bread!