the garden run plan the garden run. ... it’s the perfect way to add a fully enclosed outdoor run...

The Garden Run

modular run construction plan

C O M P L E T E S E R I E S

Copyright ©2014 The Garden Coop LLC

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Overview and precautions (read first!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Materials overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Quarter-height module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Optional corrugated roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Half-height module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Walk-in module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Connect and configure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Tips and suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

thank you!

Thank you for buying the The Garden Run construction plan and for supporting our efforts. I’m confident that the plan will save you time, frustration, and money and help you build a safe space for your backyard chickens, rabbits, ducks, and more to roost, play, and roam. Most importantly, I hope it leads to a functional, well built structure that you love and are proud of!

what’s inside

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www.TheGardenCoop.com Copyright ©2014 The Garden Coop LLC3

overview and precautions

Introducing The Garden RunThe Garden Run is a modular system that lets you easily create, customize, and extend a secure outdoor habitat for your backyard chickens, rabbits, ducks, and more. You can build a single module, or combine multiple modules for more space and limitless possibilities. It’s the perfect way to add a fully enclosed outdoor run to your existing chicken coop or rabbit hutch.

Add a little space, or a lot. Grow your flock. Let your rabbits or ducks share space with your chickens. Create a small courtyard. Elevate your herb garden. Wind a run around a tree or tuck it alongside a fence. Join two coops with one common area. . . . Whatever your vision, The Garden Run is a flexible way to realize it. And it looks and functions beautifully to keep your animals secure.

How it worksEach module is based on standard outer dimensions, so they link to one another — and to our coop designs — seamlessly. In fact, they’re just as easy to connect to any chicken coop, hutch, or existing run with the instructions provided in this plan. Of course, you’re also free to build these to any dimensions you’d like.

Keep in mind that The Garden Run is not intended as your animals’ primary shelter. You will need to attach or enclose a coop or hutch to these enclosures to provide complete protection from the elements, and The Garden Run design makes that easy to do.

All of the modules are open-air and fully secure, with tough hardware cloth on all sides, top, and bottom and lockable latches at every opening. This plan describes how to build bases that protect your animals from digging pests and predators, elevate the structure, and hold a good amount of bedding. You could optionally leave the


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modules open at the bottom and set them directly on the ground, on skids, or over a garden bed. Or you could raise them slightly on another foundation or on blocks (as in The Garden Coop walk-in chicken coop design) with hardware cloth either trenched around the perimeter or flared out above the ground and staked down.

Each module can be opened for cleaning and access. They can be built with standard lumber/timber, hardware cloth, and easy-to-find hardware, and the plans show you how to make the most out of your materials, with the fewest cuts and little waste.

The modulesThe complete plan includes instructions for three separate modules, plus an optional corrugated roof for the quarter- and half-height modules:

→ The quarter-height module stands about two feet (0.6 meters) tall, including the base. It hinges open at the top and allows you to enclose the most yard with the least amount of materials. It’s also a good height for connecting other modules to each other or to your coop or hutch. For many setups, this is the place to start.

→ The half-height module stands about four feet (1.2 meters) tall. It has a wide front door that opens outward for access and cleaning and a specially designed permeable rooftop garden bed. When filled with the proper medium, the garden top is an ideal bed for growing succulents or small herbs. Any rainwater that is not held by the soil medium or sipped up by the plants simply drains into the run below, just as it would if the top were open-air. If you prefer, you can set individual pots or planters inside the bed, leave the garden bed off entirely, or cover the module with the optional shed roof. There’s also enough height inside to add perches for chickens and to hang a waterer.



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→ The walk-in module is a full-height design which stands about seven-and-a-half feet (2.3 meters) tall. The people-sized front door opens outward for access. You can train vining plants up the side to continue growing over the pergola top, providing beauty, scent, and shade — even food for you or your animals. The large interior space means there are many options for adding perches and other interesting features for your animals’ habitat. Note, this plan does not include instructions for adding a solid roof to the walk-in module.

→ The optional corrugated roof for the quarter- and half-height modules is a shed-style roof that can be built with polycarbonate panels or other corrugated roofing material. You can, of course, devise other ways to cover the modules for rain and sun protection, such as plastic sheeting (rigid or flexible), shade cloth, roofing paper, plywood, and so on.

Again, The Garden Run is not intended to be your animals’ primary shelter, but having some cover over part of their enclosed run — either permanently or seasonally — can offer shade in the summer and more space to roam when it’s raining or snowing.

Mix, match, and configure as you likeThe possibilities are yours to explore. The best place to start is to decide what you want to build and how it will connect to your coop or hutch (see p. 67). It’s a flexible system. And as with all our plans, there’s as much fun in building to the specs as there is in making the designs your own, so feel free to use these designs and techniques as a jumping off point for your own creativity!

Now some important notes and precautions. . .



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materials overview


Keeping things square

If a wall is noticeably skewed, it can lead to headaches down the

line. This is less of an issue with the quarter-height and half-height

modules as it may be with the walk-in module.

To check that a frame is “square” (meaning all corners are at 90°),

measure the diagonals — from corner to opposite corner. You want

the two diagonal measurements to be exactly the same. If they’re not,

shift the frame to shorten the longer one.

With the frame square, nail or screw a 3’ or 4’ length (915 to 1220 mm) of scrap board to either the top plate or

sole plate, and position the other end diagonally across one of the studs. Start another nail or screw into your

temporary brace at that point, check again for square, then attach it. Leave it attached until you’ve installed

permanent corner bracing or hardware cloth. If you use nails, leave the heads raised for easier removal.

Always drill pilot holes! Here’s how and why:

Before driving screws into wood, you nearly always should first drill pilot holes

so that the screws go in more easily and are less likely to split the wood. A 1/8” (3

mm) diameter drill bit should work well for 2 1/2” and 3” (64 and 75 mm) screws.

You want the holes narrow enough that the threads of the screws still bite

fully into the wood. Drill through the first board. Pilot holes do not usually

have to extend into the member you are attaching to, just the piece that you

start the screw in.

Also, notice the direction of the grain in the wood and try to drill

perpendicular to the grain. This further reduces the chance of the wood

splitting when you drive in the screw.

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x Install roofing panels

Always install your roofing material according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Here are the basic steps I follow to install corrugated polycarbonate panels.

a. Attach the closure strips. Working from the right, lay out the closure strips atop each purlin. Line the edges up with the marks on the tops of the purlins. Basically, you want the ends of the strips to be 1/2” (13 mm) in from the ends of the purlins — if you’re using the 24” (610 mm) plastic or wooden ones that you cut in an earlier step (see p. 27), this would be one cut strip per purlin plus either one uncut strip (for the 50” roof) or two (for the 74” roof). Tack each strip down in two spots in the “valleys” using small nails (these attachments are for placement only and are not meant to be structural).

A pro tip for you: If you’re butting two closure strips next to each other, take a scrap piece with a peak on it (or simply invert one of your other strips) and fit the peak into the valley where the two strips meet. This will ensure that the profile is just right and that the panels won’t get pinched or stretched in that space.

b. Lay out roofing panels. Set the roof panels atop the closure strips so that they cover the purlins and overlap the next panel at one crest. Position the panels so that the front edges extend about 2 1/4” (57 mm) beyond the front face of the first purlin. Do this at the overlapping crest(s) to ensure that the panels’ front edges stay in line with one other. Clamp or hold panels in place.

optional corrugated roof

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connect and configure

Half-height module sideways to the side. No additional framing. Adjust trim to fit.

Connecting to The Garden Ark

Quarter-height module to the front. Add a pop door on The Garden Ark (see p. 71) and cut off the curved tips of the skids. Adjust the base height on the module so it matches the ark’s. You can attach to the rear the same way and cut a pop door into the siding, but you’d have to lose the wheels, if you have them, and trim up a few gaps. Or you could attach a connecting “tunnel” to the back and add your standard modules to that (see photo, p. 67).

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the garden run plan the garden run. ... it’s the perfect way to add a fully enclosed outdoor run...

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