Questions on polycarb roof and gravel run

[KatelynC]

We are in the process (early days...) of building our first coop and run. I have two questions that I haven't yet found answers/opinions/experiences for.
1) We are planning on installing a polycarbonate roof for our coop and run. I had been planning on a translucent white, but my husband said that "back in the day" (could be 20+ years ago... who knows...), they were prone to yellowing with age. Ick. Anyone have more recent experience? We will probably buy the Tuftex brand since Suntuf seems to be out of stock everywhere. I like the look of the white but am not crazy about yellow-ish.
2) We live on poorly draining clay. As mentioned above, the run will be covered, but between weather blowing in and the grass eventually getting destroyed anyway, our plan is to just put 6-ish inches of gravel down in the run before moving the girls in (it will be an 8x12 run, and we'll have 5 hens, but I am trying to account for chicken math in case we go up to 10 hens down the road). Is there a "best" type of gravel? Layer of large-ish crushed rock as a base with pea gravel on top? All pea gravel? Does it matter?

Thank you!!!

 

[staceyj]

We modified our run from a short one (36” ?) to a walk-in. I’m pretty sure there are Pictures of this on my coop page.
Chickens free range most of the day but I wanted a safe place for them in case we were going somewhere and wouldn’t be around to keep an ear out for them.
After much deliberation we went with clear (but the uv protection kind).
Our coop is in shade most of the day but we wanted them to get as much sunlight as possible in the winter.
The white piece that we repurposed, provides enough shade if they want it.
Even after hosing off, which is quick and easy - the white stays dirty in the valleys.
It wouldn’t bother me unless I was going to be looking down on it , say from an upstairs window or elevated vantage point.
I will say, it’s holding up great and I’m happy with the choice we made.

 

[imnukensc]

I used galvanized roofing on my 16' x 8' run and on the coop roof. The sun down here in SC is tough on polycarbonate. Even the UV protected kind becomes quite brittle quickly. My chickens free range daily nearly all day and I too am on hard red clay. I would never put gravel down in the run. Look for/search deep litter in your run. I don't use deep litter per se, but I do put bushels upon bushels of leaves in the run in the fall.

 

[jthornton]

I used galvanized roofing on my run and tossed in a bunch of pine chips. I can't imagine what it would be like with gravel in the run.



I've added an overhang on the side with the nest box and feeder to protect it from the rain and snow. I wish I had added an overhang to all sides now.

JT

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!
Thanks for including your location!

I would strongly advise against the gravel in the run,
it will eventually become saturated with poop and reek.
Go with wood chippings and other dry plant material.

Plan for snow loads...shoveling paths, wind/snow blocks on run walls, and roof raking.

 

[KatelynC]

Thanks everyone for your ideas and advice! @staceyj - I had not thought about the "look" of dirt and debris staying the valleys. Probably another good reason to not go with white for us (we will be able to see from a house window above and it would probably annoy me ). Fortunately the sun is not too tough here (and the run/coop is in a partially shaded area) and except for the occasional blizzard, we don't usually get large accumulations of snow all at once (much to my family's dismay). I like the idea of letting light in, so I'm hoping the polycarbonate will work for us.

Thanks, too, @imnukensc , @jthornton and @aart for your thoughts about the gravel. I had read in one of my "research" books about it being used in a covered run, and basically the excrement dried up and fell down through the stones (and didn't stink). The authors' experience was it was very low maintenance and it worked for them. After your comments, I did some more digging and now better understand reasons why it might work really well for some people and not for others. (This thread was really helpful for anyone who might come across my question in the future: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/gravel-in-run.1196864/#post-18935012) My crystal ball failed when I tried to see how it might work in our case , but it sounds like the deep litter method (or deep litter-ish) is probably a safer bet to try first anyway. It is funny how, for us "intense planner" types, every decision seems SOOO important, even though I know it will all work out somehow.

Thanks again!

 

[Howard E]

The yellow he refers to was probably the first generation of that stuff and was made as a fiberglass panel.....glass strands in a resin matrix. My dad used it on a shed he built and it did turn yellow. It has held up for about 30 years, but is in the process of falling apart now.

The suntuf on the scratch shed of my woods coop. It has held up so far, but that is only two years. Works well to block the heat of the sun, yet let in ample light.



Another option is to seek out places that sell roofing for pole barns. Their skylight material is pretty much the same thing, and is cheaper. Comes in 36" wide panels vs. 24", and rib pattern is different, but otherwise, pretty much the same thing.

 

[KatelynC]

Thanks @Howard E ! That's what I was hoping with the polycarbonate- that it was a generational thing. Hadn't thought of the pole barn angle. Worth checking out! Also, your Coop is gorgeous!

 

[h c hennery]

We used polycarb and are very happy with it. We used SunTuf on our 5 x 10 coop/run (finished 7/17), and Tuftex on the 8 x 16 attached run (finished 12/17). Opaque over the coop, and translucent smoky/gray elsewhere.

It's easy to work with: we were able to trim it using a pair of cheap scissors. Durable: the entire run flipped over during a freak windstorm (70 mph winds) and the whole thing stood on its head for three days -- only damage to the entire structure was a little crimping in one corner of the roof, shown in picture below (afterwards we steel-cabled the structure to the ground).

On the dirt floor (used to be grass) of the 8 x 16 run we put some straw and dried leaves. We've never cleaned it (yet), and there's no smell (yet) -- but we have only 3 hens. In sustained very rainy weather, the perimeter of the run has gotten soggy, but it dries fairly quickly and there are straw bales, limbs, and perches for the hens to hang out on if they want to. I will say that the whole thing is extremely dusty, despite the straw/leaves. There's a very fine layer of dirt on basically everything.

 

[Chad Oftedal]

@h c hennery This is so great to know! I have a section of my run framed up with rafters, and started putting my first panel on last night. I had to stop though...because it started to rain pretty heavy...oh, the irony.

It looks like you used the plastic closure strips on yours, and your screws holding the panels down are set exactly like the install video shows. I'm doing the same thing. I've been really happy with how well the pre-hanging part has been coming together. I initially bought the wood closure strips, but when I got home could see that the ones that I got were never going to hold up. I bought them because they were all that were available at HD. I lucked out an we have a McLendon's that carries SunTuf as well, and they had the plastic ones in stock - not special order like HD. Anyway, after a quick breakfast here, I'll be back out at it today. Good to see the picture with the basic scissors able to cut it. I used a circular saw because I had four panels that I could cut at the same time that all needed to be the same length. In other parts of my run, though, I'll need to do more one-off work, so glad to see I can do that with the scissors.