We Compared 6 Chicken Run Covers on Rain, Hawks and Mesh

Why the PawGiant 11.7x6.7 ft wins this category

Because it is the right size for the run most people own, at a price that does not make you hesitate about covering only part of it.

Walk-in runs sold for backyard flocks are usually 6 to 7 ft wide, and 6.7 ft gives you that plus a drip edge, so water leaves the fabric outside the mesh instead of running down the inside. At 11.7 ft it covers a short run outright, or the working half of a longer one where the feeder, the waterer and the pop door sit.

It is also doing the job that matters more than mud. A solid roof over the feeding area keeps starling and sparrow droppings off the ground your hens scratch in, and that is the main way disease arrives in a backyard flock.

Living with the PawGiant 11.7x6.7 ft

Coated PE is the sensible fabric here. It sheds rather than absorbs, so the cover does not gain weight through a wet week and sag on its ties.

UV treatment is the specification that decides how many seasons you get. Untreated polyethylene chalks, stiffens, then splits along fold lines after a summer of direct sun.

Where the PawGiant 11.7x6.7 ft falls short

The fixing method is the weak point, and it is the same across every tarp here. Grommets and ties give you no pitch by themselves. Fit this flat and a puddle forms, and at roughly 8 pounds a gallon that puddle hangs its full weight on two or three eyelets until they tear through the hem.

Light is the other trade off. The fabric is opaque, so a fully covered run gets dim, and in winter a dim run makes hens reluctant to come out. Cover part of the run, not all of it.

And be clear about what this is not. It is fabric. It keeps weather and droppings out, and stops no predator at all.

Why the Vocray 1 in Aviary Net wins this category

Because the mesh number is the whole decision, and 1 in is the one that buys you two things instead of one.

Two inch mesh is enough to stop a hawk. It is not enough to stop a sparrow or a starling, and those are the birds landing in your feeder and leaving droppings on the ground the flock uses. Dropping to 1 in closes that gap.

Knotted construction is the second reason. Every net carries its load where it is tied to the frame, and a knotted mesh holds its geometry there rather than pulling into distorted diamonds over a season.

Living with the Vocray 1 in Aviary Net

Fifty by fifty feet sounds like far too much and is not, once you have draped the sides and left enough to tie off. Cut generously and keep the offcuts for patching.

UV stabilisation matters more for netting than for a tarp, because netting is thin filament with a lot of surface area for its mass. Unstabilised line gets chalky and then snaps under its own tension.

Where the Vocray 1 in Aviary Net falls short

The fine mesh is a liability in bad weather. One inch openings catch wet leaves and hold snow in a way 2.4 in mesh does not, so the net sags, rests on the frame and abrades. It needs pitching and it needs clearing after a storm.

It also does nothing about mud. Rain goes straight through the mesh, so if you want dry ground you are buying a tarp as well, and this is an addition to that rather than an alternative.

Handling is the last point. Just under 8 pounds of net over a large run is awkward alone, and every cut edge needs tying or melting so the knots do not run.

Why the VitalCozy 2-Pack wins this category

Because run covers are consumables and buying two at once is the honest way to treat them. Coated PE tarps living outdoors in sun and wind have a life measured in seasons, not decades, and the second sheet either doubles your coverage now or waits in the shed as the replacement.

Two 11.5 x 6.6 ft sheets is roughly 152 square feet, which roofs a long walk-in run outright rather than just the working end.

Living with the VitalCozy 2-Pack

The white fabric is a small but real advantage. Every solid cover here is opaque, so a roofed run gets darker, and that matters in winter when hens are already reluctant to leave the coop. A white surface bounces more of the light reaching the run edges back down onto the ground.

At 6.6 ft the width suits the common walk-in run, leaving a little overhang so water drips clear of the mesh.

Where the VitalCozy 2-Pack falls short

The joint is the problem you are buying along with the second sheet. Two tarps meeting on one roof leak unless the upper sheet overlaps the lower one generously on the downhill side. Lap it the wrong way and water runs under the seam and straight into the run, which is worse than having no cover over that strip.

Wind is the other issue and it is made worse by having two loose edges instead of one. Six and a half pounds of fabric that is free to move will flog in a gale, and flogging fabric saws through itself at the tie points in a matter of weeks. Tie every grommet and re-tension after the first storm.

White also shows its age quickly. Algae, dust and debris show up on it in a way they do not on a dark tarp, so expect it to look tired well before it stops working.

Why the VitalCozy 14.5x6.6 ft wins this category

Because run length is where most covers come up short. Walk-in runs are commonly extended in sections, and an 11 ft tarp on a 14 ft run leaves the far end open, which is usually where the birds dust bathe.

At 14.5 ft per sheet this covers that in one span, with no seam across the roof. Two sheets means a run of nearly 29 ft roofed end to end for one purchase, which nothing else here does.

Living with the VitalCozy 14.5x6.6 ft

The construction is the same coated PE with UV treatment used across the better covers here, so it sheds rather than soaks and does not chalk after one summer.

White is the right choice at this size. The bigger the roof, the more of the run sits in permanent shade, and a reflective surface bounces some of the light entering at the run edges back down.

Where the VitalCozy 14.5x6.6 ft falls short

The span that makes it useful is also the thing that will break it. Fabric stretched 14.5 ft with nothing under the middle will dip, and a dip fills with water. Water is around 8 pounds a gallon, so a modest pond is tens of pounds hanging from the grommets at each end. It needs a ridge pole, a mid rail or a taut line under the centre line, and that is not optional at this length.

Weight is the related problem. Nearly 8 pounds of tarp is a lot to hang on the thin steel tube these runs are usually built from, and the load rises sharply the moment it rains.

The width has not changed either. At 6.6 ft, a run wider than that still needs both sheets laid side by side, which turns your two long covers into one short covered area with a seam down the middle.

Why the BSTPCOO 2.4 in Net wins this category

Because if hawks are the problem, wider mesh solves it for less. A bird of prey needs room to come in and leave carrying something, and 2.4 in openings do not give it that. Finer mesh buys you wild bird exclusion, not better raptor protection.

Fifty by fifty feet at this price is a lot of coverage. It closes a large run and its sides, with enough left over to patch later.

Living with the BSTPCOO 2.4 in Net

The light weight is a genuine practical advantage during fitting. Under 5 pounds of net can be walked over a frame and tied off by one person, where a heavier knotted net really wants a second pair of hands.

Wider mesh also sheds better. It holds less snow and catches fewer wet leaves than 1 in netting, so it sags less through a bad winter and puts less strain on the frame it is tied to.

Where the BSTPCOO 2.4 in Net falls short

The mesh that makes it cheap and easy to handle is also what limits it. Sparrows, starlings and other small wild birds pass through 2.4 in openings without slowing down, and those are the birds landing in your feeder and leaving droppings on the ground your flock uses. If that is happening already, this net will not change it.

Construction is the other compromise. The listing says polyethylene and does not claim a knotted mesh, which the Vocray net in this guide does. Without knots holding the intersections, the openings pull into distorted diamonds at the points where the net is tied and tensioned, and over a season the effective aperture at those points grows.

The filament is thin for the area covered. It will take wind and weather, and it will not take a branch coming down on it, so expect to patch rather than to have it hold.

Why the FLOUREE 11.5x6.5 ft wins this category

Because the worst cover is the one you did not buy. A run with no roof turns to mud in a wet week and takes wild bird droppings onto the ground your hens feed on, and this fixes both for the least money here.

At 11.5 x 6.5 ft it covers the working end of a standard walk-in run: the feeder, the waterer and the ground outside the pop door. Covering that strip well beats covering the whole run badly.

Living with the FLOUREE 11.5x6.5 ft

The low weight is a real convenience when fitting. Under 3 pounds of fabric can be thrown over a frame and tied off alone, without the wrestling that a heavier two sheet cover involves.

It is white, which helps at this size. Every solid cover here is opaque, and a lighter upper surface reflects more of the daylight arriving at the run edges back down onto the ground beneath.

Where the FLOUREE 11.5x6.5 ft falls short

The UV rating is the specification that separates this from the covers above it. Basic UV resistance is not the same as UV treatment. Polyethylene without proper stabilisers chalks on the surface, then stiffens, then splits along the lines where it has been folded, and that process is measured in months of direct summer sun rather than years.

The fabric weight compounds it. Two and a half pounds spread over 75 square feet is a thin sheet, and thin sheet is exactly what pulls through around a grommet when wind loads the tie points. Tie every eyelet, keep it tensioned, and give it a pitch, because it has less margin than a heavier cover.

It is also a single sheet with nothing in reserve, and like every tarp here it stops weather and droppings and stops no animal at all.