Building a Simple Chicken Run

Simple. HA!

I had this "simple" design in my head and it didn't turn out to be so simple to build. What started out as a great idea ended up as a bonafide disaster. But a lesson nonetheless. Here is what I learned in my not-so-handy woman attempt at making a chicken run last week.

I had already purchased some 24" chicken wire from the feed store, so I knew when I went to the hardware store for the wood that I would need 24" sections for the corners. Makes sense, right? Sure.

While I was getting the 24-inch 2x2s, I picked up three 1x2s to lay across the top as a roof for my run. They come in 8-foot lengths. "Would you like us to cut these, ma'am?" Oh, no, 8-feet will be a great size for the run! I even laid all the wood out right there on the floor of Home Depot and asked the two young men who were helping me if this looked like it was going to work. Sure.

I was so excited when I got home, I laid-out all of my materials and got right to work!

 I even laid it out like I had laid it out at Home Depot. Looks like it would make sense, right? Sure.

 

I felt very cool as I stapled the chicken wire to the legs of my run. I even ran out of staples and had to change them myself - I was so impressed with myself at this early point, that I'm pretty sure my pride led to my eventual ruin... Read on. 





 

Things start to fall apart. Quite literally. (Did you know you are supposed to drill holes in pine before screwing it to anything because it can split? I found that out.)

 

BUT! They weren't all bad. I held out hope that it was all going to work out in the end...

At this point in the project, I couldn't get all my pieces to stand up while I was trying to balance them and screw them together. I was pretty sure my husband was standing inside the house watching from the window and giggling at me, but I was determined to do this on my own so I plowed ahead.

 

  Even with ends that don't meet up and loose floppy chicken wire I completed my project! And I did it on my own! I really was pretty proud of myself in the end.

 

 

It fell apart the next day.

 

The screws I used were too short to hold the sections of wood together, the staples popped out as I lifted it to move it around, and the uneven shape caused it to collapse. Much to the chagrin of Pepper who was inside at the time, happily pecking away at the grass until she was set-upon by a pile of chicken wire. Sigh.

 

The eternal optimist that I am, I cannot see this as defeat. I learned a lot in the process and have plans to take the run apart and use the materials for a New & Improved chicken run! More on that another day.