Chicken Run made from Cattle Panels

I adore chickens

A painting of one of our  past roosters who ended up in the freezer because he was so mean and kept
 attacking my 3 year old daughter.  She requested that we put him in the "stew pot".
He was gorgeous, a game bird/aracauna cross.

they make me smile

and they give us the perfect food

 all wrapped up in colorful packaging

extra high in omega 3

Over the past (well dare I say 30 years) I have had chickens

usually they run free range, but as soon as the gardens go in, at the first of June

I confine them to the hen house hotel with the walk out terrace.

We have had many coops and runs--er hotels and walk out terraces-- over the years

we move often and have rebuilt a place for the girls every time.

This is my favorite run thus far.

It is simply 16 foot galvanized cattle panels, arched and staked,

 and covered with chicken wire

our fancy "RED NECK" door latch

We used the tall 6 foot posts as stakes because we rotate grazing animals and wanted to be able to attach fencing along the sides of the run.

This is another example of using the cattle panels for a run.  The roof panels are supported through the middle using 2x4's.  I do not like this as well.  It is more difficult to maneuver in the run because you cannot stand up.  However square footage is more for the same amount of panels used as compared with the arched run.  This method does not require any additional fencing when we are grazing animals next to it.

If you have a problem with predators line the outside of the run with large flat stones.

More of my thoughts or experiences about raising chickens:

the $2,600 stew hen

MOLTING

We have also used the panels for mini green houses and have bent the panels in half the long way for low tunnels to extend the season for vegetable crops