Hoop House/Coop

[RonC]

My first setup started as a simple pen with no top and graduated to a birdcage with the PVC frame. It was built on a budget over a couple of months. I'm upcycling what I had. I think the stock panels are a great idea and surely are much stronger than the PVC. Only predator I worry about is a 40lb chow/golden retriever mix that doesn't seem too interested in chicken on the hoof. She likes hers fried

 

[lpyrbby]

New question (no, it's still not finished - life and rain).

Paint. I want to paint the back plywood wall, the nest boxes, and the door frame. Can I get the primer/paint combo? Should I do something else with the paint? I'm ready to at least do that this weekend (although I'm optimistic we might actually have the coop ready to move into this weekend).

Here's some build pics too. Thoughts?

Chicken wire install. I worked to unroll it from the middle of the hoop and gradually pulled it down one side, keeping the roll at the peak. Once it was down to where I wanted it, I stopped to secure it to the cattle panel.



The way the chicken wire was cut actually made it pretty easy to secure. I came back through after getting the wire in place and tightened the twists and tried to flatten the pointy ends as well as I could.



I used a zip tie to hold the hardware cloth up, only to realize this is a part that I can't do alone. The holes are too small that I can't get anything looped around the wire so I can secure it. I am going to make it go to the bottom of the wood frame though, so there's more to go through if a predator comes along.



That piece of wood leaning inside the coop isn't staying. It was there to provide support to that side while hubs sealed the metal with caulk.







I overlapped the wire as much as I could to the roof. Also, I went through on the inside and tied some wire strands to bring the chicken wire and the cattle panel more "together" across the hoop.







There are three boxes over a span of about 4ft here. This is the main part I need to paint. We had a lot of rain over this past weekend and husband had to drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the boxes to drain out water. I hope it's not too late to paint...

 

[lpyrbby]

Oh! And this is the main color I want to pain the coop. Husband suggested using a second color, but I'm not sure what to use. Yellow would be my choice under normal circumstances, but the coop is going to be easily seen from the road, and I don't really want it to be THAT noticeable lol.

 

[Tumbling K]

The way the chicken wire was cut actually made it pretty easy to secure. I came back through after getting the wire in place and tightened the twists and tried to flatten the pointy ends as well as I could.



I used a zip tie to hold the hardware cloth up, only to realize this is a part that I can't do alone. The holes are too small that I can't get anything looped around the wire so I can secure it. I am going to make it go to the bottom of the wood frame though, so there's more to go through if a predator comes along.









I overlapped the wire as much as I could to the roof. Also, I went through on the inside and tied some wire strands to bring the chicken wire and the cattle panel more "together" across the hoop.

In your first picture, I would either use wire to sew the chicken wire to the cattle panel, or I would get some hog nose rings, to attach it.

in the nest set of pics, concerning the where the wire meets the corrugated metal, I would put the wire under the metal. Still a pretty easy fix, even with the metal attached.

looks great so far.

I have a series of hoop coops in my yard.

 

[aart]

Take a piece if stiff wire (16-14ga?) and bend a tight hook in the end, use that to fish end of ziptie thru HC.
Much easier with a partner, but it'll do the job.

I'd have wired the whole thing before adding the corrugated roofing...hindsight, I know.
That chicken wire is not raccoon proof.

 

[lpyrbby]

Yeah, husband wishes we had done that as well (wired over the coop before adding the roof) lol. We've definitely got a list of ideas on things we'd do differently on another. Speaking of which, I just broke the news to him a bit ago that I want more coops. He looked a little defeated LOL

We have 3ft wide rolls of hardware cloth, so that will be going around the base of the coop. We'll do some more tying in once that is up. I did already use wire to tie the chicken wire to the panel across the span of the coop at the joins.

Another thought. I was originally going to lay the rolls of hardware cloth to cover the entire floor (dirt/grass) of the coop with a 12 inch "apron" around the coop. I just had a thought while out enjoying some chicken tv, that maybe instead of doing the whole floor that way, I can lay the rolls down around the perimeter of the coop instead (think under the coop walls), leaving parts of the floor bare. With the 3ft width, I could have 1.5ft on either side of the coop walls. I plan to hold it down with landscape pins and will add some planters and such around the outside perimeter too. Would that be sufficient?

Also, I need to get some pics of the handle/latch my husband crafted I'll try right now if there's enough light. A storm is ready to roll through.

 

[aart]

You really only need the apron on the outside to deter dig ins...tho some along the perimeter inside is good for when the chickens dig holes along the edge.

 

[lpyrbby]

We haven't installed the hardware cloth on the door yet either. Husband made it so we can just take the white trim off the door, roll out the cloth, the screw the trim back on. Although, I'm not sure what his plan is now that he's put the latch/handle on LOL













I still want to build a brooder/introduction pen under the nest box area here, but I haven't decided how I want to accomplish that yet.



Just another example of how things are tied off.

 

[lpyrbby]

You really only need the apron on the outside to deter dig ins...tho some along the perimeter inside is good for when the chickens dig holes along the edge.

That's kinda what I was thinking. That way, they still have the option to make their own dust bath holes if they find what I provide them to be unacceptable LOL

 

[blucoondawg]

Where are you going to put roost bars? Your newest boxes are quite high compared to the roof of the coop, you may end up with chickens sleeping in them and crapping them up if you can't the roost bars much higher than the nests