Chicken Run Repair

I started repairing the run on the chicken coop.

Even without the damage done by the dog it was looking pretty worn. The bottom was enclosed by plywood panels that used to make up a fence around my house. The fence was horrible but I got 3 years worth of use out of these pieces.

They were pretty rotten and the layers were starting to separate so they came out pretty easily.


My plan was to just lift the downhill side until it was level and brace it with new studs at the bottom. I was hoping to reuse as much of the structure and mesh as possible. It didn't work out. It was too hard to lift and a couple of the rafters had come loose from the dog jumping on it.

I ended up taking every thing apart and rebuilding it. I was able to reuse the rafters and ridge beam so it didn't take much cutting to get to this point. Even though it's not the same style as the turkey coop roof, the two structures have much more in common now and seem like a family. Making the run roof level also makes it much more capacious inside. I can stand and move around pretty comfortably. In the old one I had to hunch and crawl, which means that I didn't go in very often.

Yesterday I added the vertical studs.

And today I started putting the mesh on.

I decided to use the same 2"x4" welded mesh that I used on the turkey coop. Not only will it match but I figured it would hurt a dog to walk on it.

It's stapled and then a rail is screwed down on top of it. I'm hoping that there is enough overlap of the mesh that it won't pull out like the hardware cloth did if something jumps on it. Fancy doesn't weigh enough to really put it to the test.


I had to modify my ladder a little to make it stable on the hill. It felt as crazy at it looks. Hopefully I won't have to climb up there again.


I need to get more mesh so I can cover the ends and make a door.


It's a little hard to see below, but those are dogprints on the 2x4. This is right where the dog climbed up to get in the coop. I'm assuming it's the same dog because on Tuesday he got through the fence around my house and chased Fancy off the porch. The dog seemed surprised to see me and high-tailed it up the hill.

Hopefully the new run will be enough to keep him out since his owner is either unwilling or unable to keep his dog contained.