Hoop House/Coop

[lpyrbby]

This girl is TIRED! I spent about 12 hours out in the yard today, working through the heat here to get the remaining things pushed out. I rolled out the cloth and painted the areas of wood that needed it. We had to finagle the coop "up" so I could slide the hardware cloth under it. I then pinned it down with landscape pins. That was a laughable effort though. It won't really stay if pried up lol. I built the pvc feeder and husband put it in the coop for me. Added the bedding and moved the waterer. I bet the neighbors had a great laugh when we tried to move the birds LOL They loved being out in the yard, but didn't want to make the longer trek to the coop. So, we had to herd them back into the fenced yard and plucked them from the temporary pen one at a time as we could catch them. By the time we got them all in the coop, they were VERY unhappy! Flying up to the wire and bouncing off it. It was a little alarming. I think they've finally settled though. Hopefully no casualties come morning!

Anywho, some photos

Got the front painted...



I used some brick pavers we inherited when we bought the property to "split" the coop. The pine shavings are under the "covered" part of the coop.



Husband attached the carabiners so they don't disappear lol





Poor lil curtains lol. Although, Nona was the first to discover the nest boxes when she was flitting about, trying to find a way out. Flew right into it LOL



And the PVC feeder. I have to pick up a new bag of feed tomorrow, so we'll see how problematic this thing is lol



I'm really digging the table here. It's for the water bucket to sit on. It's attached to the back wall of the coop as well. I forgot about getting photos after we moved the waterer there. I'll try to get more photos tomorrow.





Yep, that's a piece of PVC pipe being used as a lid prop lol



My fake eggs should be in on Monday



After getting them in the coop, we barely had any light. My camera changed settings to make it look brighter here, so it wouldn't use the flash. I have their old dust bathing area next to their new one. I left the dirty stuff in the old one, to help give them a little something familiar to work with. Did they even look at it? Nope lol. And only one of the 4 can't get up on the roost. Although, she kept trying to get on the tallest one, and not start on something lower to get to the taller one. I'll get more photos of the ladder roost concoction tomorrow too

 

[lpyrbby]

We finally got the bucket upgraded to an Igloo cooler It took some time in the local Ace Hardware store to find the pieces that would work here. It also took husband quite a bit of time to seal around the spigot and the cooler to keep it from leaking. But, so far so good!



Now that we have an introduction pen next to the coop with birds in it, we're thinking about getting a piece to split the spigot so we can run another waterer into the introduction pen. Hopefully this helps keep the biddies with some cool water during the oppressive hot days out here!

 

[blucoondawg]

I like hoop coops I built one for my meat birds last year then moved it for a pig house this year and now need to build a new one for my meat birds this year, they are a very cost effective and sturdy shelter for animals or even a small storage shed. Mine is covered with a heavy duty silver tarp the front is open. If you use metal I recommend A LOT of ventilation if you can't locate it in a shady area, chickens need ventilation anyways and metal does get hot, if you go that route go with a white or other very light color

 

[lpyrbby]

Yeah, the current coop is butted up against the woods and is sided in corrugated metal. I want the coop to be closer to the house which is going to put it in more sun, for sure. Husband was already talking about making "windows" that could be opened for them. I told him we should just use a hole saw to put holes in the wood and cover with wire lol. I'm still thinking that part of the run, outside of the coop, we can put a tarp over as well, so they have a choice to be either in or out, just in case being in is too warm for them. Thanks for your input!

 

[blucoondawg]

I wouldn't enclose the front, if leave it open or enclose our with a castle panel or welded wire fencing, then face it toward the east or whatever is the likely down wind area in your location then make some windows that can be opened or closed near the back for additional ventilation if needed

 

[lpyrbby]

I wouldn't enclose the front, if leave it open or enclose our with a castle panel or welded wire fencing, then face it toward the east or whatever is the likely down wind area in your location then make some windows that can be opened or closed near the back for additional ventilation if needed

I'll take a look at the location again. If I'm thinking correctly, with where I want it to go and the direction, the back of the coop will be kind of NW facing so that would be more of a SE front.

 

[blucoondawg]

That would work good at least in this area, get summer sun and avoid the coldest winter winds

 

[lpyrbby]

I'm now trying to think of how to build in/on a brooder area. There are some chickens that I really really want that are hard to come by. So far, the only way I can get them is via hatching eggs. I may have to rethink my interest in them unless I can happen across a broody at the time the eggs are set to arrive :/ I know I should focus on the housing first, but I'd rather have as much planned out for future stuff too, so I don't have to go through the struggle of changing things later.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Both look great!

 

[blucoondawg]

I agree with not having them enclosed, I turned my hoop coop into a pig house for this summer so have to build a different one, I currently only use hoop coop for meat birds and layers are in the shed coop, if I ever move (hopefully) to a bigger place with some good pasture area I'm going to get one of those all metal carports you can buy for like 3 grand and get it large enough so one end is a chicken coop and the other is a pig house and then I'll be able to just use my tractor to clean it out. My next hoop coop will have a means of either easily lifting with the tractor to move our else a wheel system so I can just pull it away and leave the mess to scrape up or till in. I am considering going with angle iron frame and welding it all together as well