Putting a roof on a chainlink dogkennel coop run

[Travilah]

I have a 10 x 10 dog kennel as my chicken run, and I know that TSC sells a tarp covering designed for these. However, has anyone built their own roofing frame? I was thinking if I purchased electrical conduit piping, or pvc piping, it might be less expensive, but have no idea how to attach to kennel, etc. Ideas appreciated!

 

[2 britts]

I came across this post a while back. The picture at the bottom should help. Good luck! https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=499432

 

[duckinnut]

You can go to Lowes and in the garden center the have fence piping and bolt on connectors. You just cut the pipe to length. I actually double the size of my run with these pipes and attached to dog run but also used it on the top as well. Then I attached 2x4 garden fencing to the top. Dont use chicken wire,it only keeps the chickens in not predators out.

 

[bryan99705]

You can buy chain link panels that work well as a top but you will need a regular pitched roof to support and shed snowload and heavy rain. Might consider building a single pitch roof with lexan or metal and set it over the coon proof top wiring. Let it overhang as much as possible so the splash from dripping doesn't soak the birds.

 

[Renthorin]

I have a 10x30 run, 6 feet high, made from kennel panels. To cover it I ran 1x4x12 across the width and down the middle. I have two 4x4 on end to add support. Across the top I ran chicken wire from side to side and stitched them together with zip ties.

I have many kennels for dogs behind the house and I can tell from experience that snow piles up on top of them and they sag and stretch. I assume the same will happen with chicken wire but had to do something

 

[georgiagail]

The connectors we used are called brace rail clamps. As already posted, they can be found in the chain link fencing section at Lowes. Each runs under $2:

If you don't want to do an arched roof (for a 10 foot wide run you'd need to purchase additional pipe and a coupler since these pipes come in 5 and 10 foot sections) , you can still use the brace rail clamps and either PVC or electrical conduit pipe, attaching them at 2-3 foot intervals and then laying your hardware cloth lengthwise over them, attaching them to the rails and pipe with zip ties.

That is what we did with our second run and what we are planning on doing with our third (we will also be using a 10 x 10 foot dog run for this last one and since these runs are six feet tall one still has plenty of head room even with a flat roof). Since we will be using 3 foot wide hardware cloth, we'll lap the short ends over each other, then zip tie them to the pipe to ensure no openings at the top for critters to wiggle through:

This method goes much faster than the first one and it was easier for us to use this method since on the second run the coop was inside the run. This methods required less time spent attaching zip ties to the actual pipe. We could attach them to the pipe from the outside standing on ladders when we got to the pipe over the actual coop.

We don't have to worry about heavy snow since we live in Georgia and, at the most, we might get snow one day out of the year.

I hope this makes sense....

Gail

 

[DelcoChix]

The first posters link is the same one I copied from for my 7x12 dog kennel/bantam cochin home--am really happy with how it turned, but haven't gone through a winter/snow season yet. Regardless, it's been great so far--just bought pvc (8') and cut it back to 7 1/2 feet, 6" longer than the width (I 'tested' it longer but had too much arch)--found the clamps for chain link at Lowe's (Home Depot had nothing), and put three arches in the kennel. I then covered them with the 2"x4" fencing, and then over half of it I put the tarp I had been using, so it's totally covered with decent wire, then half covered (over the coop and feeder area) with tarp--keeps most of the rain out and the ground underneath is pretty dry. Didn't take days (maybe 2 hours) to figure out, looks great, and working well...oh yeah, didn't cost a fortune either, maybe $20-25 (I already had the tarp and fencing)...peace of mind-priceless.

 

[DelcoChix]

Quote:
YES--Gail--Thanks so much for sharing your ideas--I did steal/borrow/plagiarize...well, you get the idea....and am very grateful to you for sharing. Now I have to figure out how to do the same for the very large run we made that attaches to our chicken coop/shed, 12x18 run that's 7'high, must be sloped due to snow...high school football is coming up which means leave early and home late on Friday nights...sigh.

 

[Ole rooster]

I bought the kennel and cover you are talking about from TS also. The cover last about a years and it split all to pieces. Looks like it dries out and turned brittle. You could touch it and it split. The dogs don't use anymore so it's "going to the chickens".

With all the tin I have from my house I'm going to find a way to cover it. I think I know how I just have to make sure it will work. Making my coop predator proof is driving me nuts. So many places to close up. I imagine the run will be the same or worse.

 

[georgiagail]

Well, we also stole/borrowed/plagarized the idea of the brace rail clamps from another BYC contributor who posted their pictures here because we were in the same boat; we knew we wanted a roof but were trying to come up with ideas to attach one that wouldn't sag in the middle to a dog run.

It's great that folks post their building experiences (both successful and unsuccessful) to those facing the same issues.

Gail