Do you want to give your chickens more room to roam and still keep them safe? A PVC pipe chicken run may be just the answer. We even included the parts list we used so you can get started on this today.
Here’s an easy and inexpensive way to give your chickens a little more room to run with safety from aerial predators. All you’ll need is some PVC pipe and fittings plus some netting.
We’d love to let our hens roam freely around the backyard, giving them the freedom to scratch up bugs and worms wherever they please. Our six foot fences are probably more than adequate to keep the hens from getting out of the yard. However, that still leaves them vulnerable from a hawk or eagle.
To solve this problem, we needed a safe, protected space that could be moved around to different areas of the yard. It doesn’t take long for a group of hens to “mow” the lawn down to bare dirt. With four hens, we figured a 50 square foot space should be sufficient. We also wanted to give them room to fly up to a perch, so a interior height of five feet seemed appropriate.
PVC pipe was chosen for the building material. While it won’t protect against a predator like a fox, raccoon, dog or other mammal, it will keep the big birds away. A PVC pipe chicken run is a perfect companion or extension of a chicken tractor.
A trip to our local Lowes store resulted in finding everything we needed. (See the parts list at the bottom of this article.)
The best part about working with PVC parts is that you can put this whole thing together in minutes. You can assemble the whole thing without glue, tools or cutting. The most difficult part was wrapping the protective netting around the frame and securing it with wire ties. For this part, having two people working on it made the work much easier.
Adding an optional perch
Chickens love to perch. It allows them put themselves in a more secure position, able to see predators or other dangers before they get too close. They also use a perch as a way to show dominance or pecking order.
Your perch should be a minimum of 2 inches wide. Unlike other birds, who wrap their feet around a perch, chickens prefer to stand flat-footed. In this photo, you can see that we used a 2″ x 2″ piece of lumber, attached a metal bracket at each end, then used wire ties to secure it to the PVC pipe frame. We’ve had this in place for over a year and it’s holding up nicely.
The distance from the ground is another consideration. A minimum height would be around one foot. You want the chickens to be able to walk under it easily. For a maximum height, consider leaving sufficient headroom so that collisions with the netting at the top are avoided.
PVC Pipe Chicken Run Parts List (from Lowes.com)
| PVC Part Image | Link to Lowes website | Quantity needed |
|---|---|---|
 | PVC pipe 1/2 inch X 5 feet PVC pipe | 19 each |
 | 1/2-inch 90 degree tee 1/2-inch 90 degree tee | 2 each |
 | 1/2-inch side outlet elbow 1/2 in side outlet elbow | 8 each |
 | 1/2-inch 90 degree cross tee 90 degree cross tee | 2 each |
 | 1/2-inch 90 degree elbow 90 degree elbow | 2 each |
 | Nylon Cable Ties Nylon Cable Ties | 1 package |
 | Plastic Net Blanket plastic blanket netting - 4 feet X 50 feet | 2 each |
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