Do I Need A Chicken Run?
When you start designing your chicken coop you want to make sure it has all of the essentials your chickens will need. One of the most important things anyone who wants to raise chickens needs to do is make sure your chickens have sufficient room to move around. You’ve probably heard about ‘free range eggs’ and ‘free range chickens’ but do you have any idea why? The primary reason is that chickens in confined spaces are prone to sickness, which they pass on to those who eat them.
Many people wonder if a chicken run is an essential part of a chicken coop design and honestly it is up to the individual chicken farmer. However there are many things to consider before you decide to forego the run altogether.
What Is It For?
The purpose of the chicken run is to give them a place to roam about when they are locked in the coop. This is particularly helpful if you are raising chickens in an urban area where you may be spend extended periods of time away from home and your chickens need to be confined to the coop.
Urban chicken farmers often build chicken coops that are not quite as large as those found on traditional farms due to space limitations, and the chicken run is usually the first to go. But if you can’t allow your chickens to run freely most of the day, a run is essential.
Keeps Chickens Safe
Does your property back up onto undeveloped land like a wooded area that is a haven for night predators? If you live in an urban area do you often see stray dogs and cats roaming about? If so you need a chicken run. While it is true that chickens tend to sleep at night, there is occasionally a stray chicken or two that gets restless and needs to stretch their legs.
With a chicken run you don’t have to worry about a cranky chicken with insomnia waking up the entire neighborhood. With a chicken run you can prevent that from happening. Before you decide whether or not you want a chicken run, take a look at a few different chicken coop ideas with a run.
Chicken Coop Plans
Adding a chicken run to your chicken coop design does not require a ton of extra work since it is just an open space. You will need to factor in more chicken wire and a few more planks of wood, but this is exactly why you should already have a chicken coop guide handy before you purchase your materials.
Building a home for your chickens requires you to think about their needs such as food, water, exercise and laying eggs. These must all be part of the chicken coop, so make a list of your needs before you even start looking for plans.
Your chickens need to be safe as well as properly exercised and a chicken coop accomplishes that with no problem.