Suggestion on a chicken run?

I just purchased a property that has a small fenced side field. 0.359 acre. In the middle of that field is my drain field, so I can't do much of digging, tractor work, heavy livestock, etc. Great place for chickens. I plan on doing enough chickens for 2 dozen eggs a week, along with 3 or 4 ducks just because I like the duck eggs. The chicken run HAS to be full fenced like these hens are doing hard time. The nearness to a local salmon spawning river means that the birds of prey population is extremely high. My parents tried free ranging and lost three juvies in about 90 seconds just up the road from me.

With this nice sized little pasture, should I do a single long run for the birds? maybe 10 feet wide and 100 feet long, with the coop conveniently located next to the back yard? Or should I try and position my coop towards the middle somewhere, and have the run partitioned off so I can control their rotation?

I have plenty of land that isn't super useful for much else there, so it would be nice to go way big on the run so they can forage a bunch more. That said, I still have to pay for and build this thing, and any part that is covered will have to be able to handle a snow load. Look forward to any thoughts.

I frequently wish my duck house was in the middle of the pasture, with separate doors opening to each paddock. It's a minor hassle leading them from their house to the field each morning and back again in the evening. But if I lived in your winters, I might be content with a coop that is as close as possible to my own back door.

Maybe I can put the coop a bit away from the corner, and do two side by side runs, or even 3. The cost wouldn't be too bad, as the interior dividers could be cheap material as it wouldn't be impacted by predators.

Coop in the center, 4 door are 4 pastures if separated by a fence.

Predator Problem:

First of all you serve your chicks on a golden plate as there is no hiding place like trees and shrubs.
Know that chicken are naturally jungle/forest fowls, you need trees and shrubs in such an area.

My paddock is 2000sqm or 1/2 acre.

There are all sizes in and my losses are near zero. (I had to shoot a crow who was a little nasty and loved to "play" with the little chicks)

Beside my docile Brahmas (near 200) I have 2 Thai Fighting Chicken as "bouncers" and they do a great job too let it be snakes or birds of prey..

But first of all you need cover, little chicks are artists when it comes running through a dense shub and no predator stand a chance to follow it.  Also the turned over cement bucket has a reason. I just try it but it seems if a chick cant reach the coop this one is well accepted and protects great.

Hi Tyler,
There are three things I can think of to help protect the chickens for a reasonable cost. One I know works fairly well, which is to get a guard goose. If the goose grows up with the chickens, they will generally consider it their own flock and will at least alert the chickens and possibly chase off the predator birds. This is best used with shelter, which I will talk about with the answer to your question about the coop. The second idea is one that is talked about a lot. Stringing fishing line criss-crossed over the top of the chicken run. In theory the predators will see this or feel it, and will not land. I hear this last suggestion a lot. I do not hear people saying it does not work... but I don't hear a lot of people saying it does work either.

Now for the coop question. Instead of putting it in the middle, I would highly suggest a mobile coop. Pair this with the idea that was already suggested, about dividing the place into smaller sections and move the chickens around. The two mobile coops I like are both called Chickshaws. It take the idea of the rickshaw to easily move things around on 2 wheels, and turns it into a chicken coop. There is one design from Eliot Coleman using metal. Another design from Justin Rhodes using wood. Both would work well. The two key things, is that it lets you spread the manure around better, as the bottom is just mesh and lets the poop (mostly) fall through. Secondly, both designs are up off the ground 10"-14" depending on the wheels used. This gives the chickens a place to go for safety and shade. If the goose alerts, and it's just bare grass, they can run, but can't hide. The coop gives them a place of relative safety from birds of prey who prefer to swoop down and kill... vs waddling under a coop and picking a fight beak to beak.

Build the house far enough away they wont be a nuisance to you or your family but close enough to keep an eye on and easy walking distance for feeding and egg gathering,you may also locate the chicks door facing south so they can have a little sun shine in it for the winter months.

This is what i use for my fence
https://okbrandwire.com/agricultural-products/utility-fabric/

I make a four sided tunnel with this.I use the four feet tall by whatever length they have or i can afford at that time.I use this for garden fence too so its not just chicken wire.They do have two foot tall wire listed but my local farm store dont carry that,i may ask them to order some for me.For a 2' tall run.I guess you could just cut the 4' in half.I use the four foot for the chicks on parts that i need to get in to clean.Areas i dont worry about cleaning i use the 3' tall and build a triangle to save fence.

The fence supports its own weight,i just wire it together cutting and using the fence itself.The top is important to cover for hawks but around here it is the raccoons and possums we have to worry about just as much,this is why i make it a box or triangle to make sure they cannot dig under it.They cant scratch in it but they can eat grass and bug under and through it.I bought 17 chicks last spring and still have them all.You can make it as long as you can afford.You could also have smaller runs cutting off from the main one just by cutting a hole in the side of the main and attaching a new section to that.

I do let mine free range as well when im around.They are brown leghorns and blue andalusians.The leghorns are very flighty and extremely cautious of airborne assaults and will call and runn for cover if they see a bird of prey,thats run with two n.

Beautiful view you have there,love that country around there.My son just moved from Polaris MT last winter,we loved going to visit there.

Depending on your predators, your fencing can vary a lot.
I have birds of prey,dogs and raccoons.
Since racoons are nocturnal, I only need hardware cloth on my coop.
For dogs, I use wood plank fencing around the perimeter.
For birds of prey, overhead obstruction, hidding spots, and narrow runs make attacking from the air unattractive.

If I had your situation I would want a huge hoophouse with solid knee walls and chicken wire over the top.
Inside, paddocks for the henscan be created with light fencing.
After they demolish the first paddock ,seed it with choice fodder plants.
Since this is over your drain field, I think irrigation might be unnecessary.
Covering the hoophouse with greenhouse plastic will extend how long you can graze the hens each year.

You might want to use the hoophouse for other things, like drying tree hay or firewood, but you mentioned the land can't sustain heavy construction.

Here a design that is almost a one shoe fits all except predatory airborne animals..

The wall is a requirement from our Department for Fisheries to raise and farm Red Claw Crayfish which are in Thailand considered as Invasive Species.

The Fence alone can be measured from the ground using the numbers but since grass grows fast higher the hot and cold wire is pretty useless then.
Snakes and rats will be not stopped I reckon.

Here's a couple who have built a chicken run like the one I described.
They dig fencing in deep to keep predators out, but you could also  lay fencing horizontally.