Lattice for your chickens

[John W Blehm]

With help from the grandkids, I've been fixing up and painting my 24' by 40' chicken barn this summer.  On the west side I have three outside pens, opposite inside coops, that are about 8' wide by 10' deep each.  In the past I used treated plywood and steel panels as dividers to keep the birds from fighting between pens and block the view of dogs and people coming around the corners. 
Now I bought plastic "privacy" lattice.  This allows for air flow while still giving most of the privacy.  This won't rust like the steel and the wife thinks it looks much better.  I hope it holds up to the cold temps in the winter.
I mentioned before that part of my goal for this year was to cover all my outside pens with roofing and all the pens attached to the barn are done.  I used steel panels with some polycarbonate ones here and there to let the sunshine in.

[Cesar Villegas]

I agree with your wife they look better and add a little personal touch to the pens. I think that might be useful here in AZ. Air flow is vital here in the hot climate 105 degrees today and thats with it being cloudy. lol

John, can you post pics of the pens withe new roofs.

[John W Blehm]

The 3 pens in the photos above have the roofing.  There is a clear panel over each pen to allow light to come in.
On the north side the pen is about 7 1/2' by 32'.  As I rebuilt it I added clear panels to it also.  The metal tub hanging on the corner is just there to make sure no one hits their head on the wood/metal as they walk around.  Chanteclers are in that pen.
My little coop/pen #9 on the northeast corner has bantam Vorwerks/Lakenvelders.
The pen on the east side is about 8' by 20' and houses LF buffs.  There is an exhaust fan in the gable to pull air thru the barn on hot days. 
The 5 flock coops on the inside are about 8' by 8' each.

[Beth Curran]

These are beautiful - wish mine looked like that!

As an aside, *someone* looks ever-so-innocent standing there in the foreground.

[Suki]

Now I bought plastic "privacy" lattice.  This allows for air flow while still giving most of the privacy. ..  I hope it holds up to the cold temps in the winter.

Yes the plastic does, though after a while spray painting is a good idea.  I usually paint them beige or taupe, I find the white glaring.  But it's a nice touch.

[John W Blehm]

Now I bought plastic "privacy" lattice.  This allows for air flow while still giving most of the privacy. ..  I hope it holds up to the cold temps in the winter.

Yes the plastic does, though after a while spray painting is a good idea.  I usually paint them beige or taupe, I find the white glaring.  But it's a nice touch.

They offer it in many colors, at Menard's online, but the white is cheaper and in-stock in the stores.  If the beige or color like that was the same price and didn't have to be ordered I may have gone with it.  On the other hand the white matches the white trim on the barn.

[Russ Blair]

Looks nice John. Looks like you added some polycarbonate panels to the barn as well. Hard to believe what a little paint will do. I agree with Beth as well looks like a wolf in sheeps clothing looking innocent in front of the pens. That is the culprit from massacre right.

[John W Blehm]

Here is a better view of the polycarbonate panels on the west side of the chicken barn.  The white steel panels were used ones, so that is why some overlap others...hey, it is only for chickens and they don't know the difference.

[Suki]

Yes the red and white is a classic barn look.  They seem happy.  What do you do for winter?

[John W Blehm]

Yes the red and white is a classic barn look.  They seem happy.  What do you do for winter?

I switch to heated waterers, so the birds always have water available and so I don't have to deal with ice.  Nothing different, other than that, that I can think of.

[Denise Baker]

That is so beautiful

[Beth Curran]

I switch to heated waterers, so the birds always have water available and so I don't have to deal with ice.

Wish I could, we just don't get enough freezing weather to justify it, but when we do it's a royal pain!

[Mike Gilbert]

They look great John.    Any outside pens I have here would have to be bear-proof.    We had one here while we were gone on vacation, and it has been spotted on both sides of us.  I imagine there is more than one.   

[Rebecca G Howie]

John, I love your barn and trellis. It is beautiful We must have been on the same wavelength this summer. I used to free range the chickens in the back yard, but they devastated my gardens and then the hawks discovered them and told all their friends where to find fresh chicken dinners. Well, no more hawk dinners at this house. It was time to put up something more secure and permanent.

I salvaged a bunch of lattice from the side of the road about 9 years ago and it has been dragged around my yard since then, repurposed as temporary chicken runs, garden trellis or whatever. It has held up well in the Florida sun.

I put an "addition" onto the back of my house around a converted raised garden bed that is now a raised coop with 1/2 x 1 inch wire floor. it is open on three sides at the bottom, the poop falls through and the chickens go under for more shade and scratch around. I dig some out once in a while to put into the garden.  The brutal sun and heat are my biggest problem here. I put the lattice up around it and used 2 inch chicken wire on the top. Two sides have herbs, various peppers and green beans planted along the sides. As you know, the lattice blocks some of the sun from their run but allows airflow.

The wire would have not been necessary, but I planted just a bit close to the peppers, so the beans wanted to twine into them and I put the wire up to push the beans back. Next time I will plan it better so the wire will not be needed. The green beans growing up the lattice give them some greens and I still got about 3 pounds of beans from that little bit of growth. I thought the beans were played out but where the leaves were picked off by the chickens, new sprouts have formed and they are blooming again. They just might produce through spring when I will plant again, remove the wire and protect the bean plants until they are about 4 feet tall. OH, and clean the lattice. LOL Then the chickies and I will share the bounty.

I am going to do another one at the back of the yard in the spring for my new additions.

[John W Blehm]

Rebecca,

It looks very attractive while being super practical from some many angles.