The New Chicken Run ~ Construction Begins!

I am getting so close to having chickens again.  But first we had to get a coop and build a safe chicken run.  We decided to recapture some of the dog run area that our dogs don't fully utilize anyway.   The dog run is currently a 40' x 16' area that is surrounded by a 4 foot tall chain link fence.  Totally not appropriate for chickens living in a rural area.   The new chicken run will be 20' x 16' with a 6 foot wood and wire fence surrounding it and double deer netting over the top.  Am I being overly cautious?  You bet! We recently lost one of our cats to coyotes so I am taking no chances with the chickens.  I told the hubby that we need this to be like a chicken fort knox!

Today we broke ground on the chicken run!  Here is our first post hole.

 Yes that is a jack-hammer that we used to dig the holes.  Our ground is very hard and since the hubby is a building contractor he has heavy-duty tools.  It made the digging really easy...no rock was going to stop this thing.

After the holes were dug our first post went up.

Then our first panel, then a second, and one wall was complete.

Here is another view showing that we used 1/2" hardware cloth on the lower 3 feet and rabbit wire on the upper 3 feet of the fence/wall.

Tomorrow we will be taking down the chainlink and installing another wall, then placing the coop inside the run before we do the last wall.  Here is the coop, in two parts, just waiting to be placed in the chicken yard.

It is 6' x 6' and about 10 feet tall when the roof is on.  Although the red and white is cute, I want my chicken yard to be tranquil and this red is not working for me.  I have picked up some cute 'Oops paint' from home depot that I will be using to totally transform this barn-style coop into an oasis of tranquility.

Follow along to see our progress over the coming days.  My teenaged chicks will be coming home as soon as the run is complete.  I am so excited!!!