Hoop Run

[Oatbucket]

I was looking at doing a complete chicken coop using the panels - never occurred to me that I could do a "run" as well! Duh -

. Yes, my neighbors would like it better too if my free range country chickens didn't visit! Combined with a pasture (the ponies don't think the grass is good enough in) fenced in some type of chicken retaining fence, this would work awesome! WE have just under 9 acres, but it's narrow with neighbors on each side and neighbors on the one side extending all the way to the back of our property...

Hmm, I hadn't found that any of the panels I've purchased have been different lengths... Not so far anyway. I believe I've purchased almost 200 panels in the last 3 years - for retaining the shetland ponies that think the neighbors green grass and grapes are better than their pastures and hay! Hot wire wasn't enough - too many broken insulators or fence charge not working. They knew the minute it wasn't working and 6 hi-tensile wires they just squeeze thru.

We bought ours a few at a time spaced out over several years as we needed them. For a year or two, it seemed like someone at the place they are made forgot how to measure. All are supposed to be 16 feet, but some are shorter. We have an old wooden shed that we turned into a coop about ten years ago. Next year we plan on redoing the coop. The roof is in great condition. The rest of it, not so much. That said, I don't see why you couldn't make a coop out of hooped panels as well. The pics of the tarp cover shelter was a hoop house for our buck goats. They did very well in their and the tarp lasted about four years. Granted, it was a really good tarp.

 

[paintedChix]

Hmm. That's funny now! Bet it wasn't when you were putting them up or even if you discovered it when you purchased them...

I will let you know how our "build" goes - buying some new supplies next weekend to start.

 

[paintedChix]

Well, life intervened and I'm just now finally getting the hoop coop done. I've got the front on it now - still need to do a roost and poop board and two nesting boxes. Last night, I moved the broody bantam "Blackie" into the coop in a dog crate w/ 11 banty eggs and 4 lg brown eggs. Wonder if any will actually hatch and what we'll get this time???

Here's a pic of the coop now...



The bucket w/ the lid is the in/out door for the chickens. Right now, I've got the bucket closed and a strap across the lid to keep it on. I have to move it again to a new grass spot - but have a miniature horse pen attached to it at the moment, so can't. Will move that again tomorrow and then move the chicken hoop coop. Picking up 2 more panels this afternoon and will do the base with 2x4's this time. Now that I've done it once, don't think it will be too difficult to do the 2nd one. Hopefully, lighter than the first one - which is heavy and very hard to move around. I want to put a solid back on the next one, though.

 

[paintedChix]

How is your hoop run doing? Any changes to it? Are your girls mad w/ their new limitations?

I'm thinking I might do that all the way down one of our pony pastures - It's not fenced yet in panels.

 

[Free Feather]

I have three hoop coops, one permanent, two portable. They may not look too good, but I love how cheap and functional they are. I did not use cow panels, but really strong cow and pig fence that was seriously just lying around, three rolls of it! I like really big runs, so a hoop run is not for me unless I were to do a quarantine or segregation pen.

 

[Free Feather]

We did a hoop run for our coop and we simply could not be more pleased with its appearance and its performance. It's exceeded all of our expectations! We live in town and our setup is easily visible from the street, so we wanted it to look nice as well as be functional. We got 3 panels, arched them and attached them to 4 metal fenceposts on each side (driven deeply into the ground) then covered the panels with chicken wire to deter overhead predators. We also "sewed" hardware cloth to the bottom 2 feet, then extended that out another 2 feet to deter diggers. Worked, too - I guarantee you that our persistent English setter gave up quickly after she broke and bloodied a toenail. We put a little white vinyl lattice fence in front of it to make it look nice, and this winter we put the same lattice over the entire run then covered it in greenhouse plastic. The draped over lattice keeps little pokies (inevitable when attaching chicken wire to the panels) from ripping up the plastic in the wind. It's held up through our wild Wyoming winds and not even an 8 inch snowfall distorted the shape of it. Love it! This spring the plan is keep the draped lattice on the run for shade and then to add one more panel for a little additional length, which will be a snap to accomplish!


Motel Chix

Notice that the run is offset from the coop. Had to do that to allow for a tree Ken did not want to remove. There's also more room for expansion going that direction. We have a three sided tunnel, right there where you see the pop door cover, which serves as a wind break against winds blowing into the coop.

Ken finishing up the winter protection. We like the look of the run completely covered in the white lattice so we're keeping that up.

Standing inside the run looking toward the South. We're so glad we went with the hoop run!

How bright is it in there?

 

[Blooie]

How bright is it in there?

It's actually very bright in there on a sunny day - the evening I took this shot it was snowing like crazy and close to sunset! It's also warmer in there than the ambient air temps.

 

[paintedChix]

So, we built a feed storage room at the ponies temporary quarters. It's about 8x10? It worked really well for what it was used for. Here it is...



We knew that when we moved into our new place, we'd need to use it again or something similar. So, the main one went up again w/ new panels for the roof (caught the horse trailer on the one when we were taking it down, severely damaging the panels - they will be used elsewhere).... The new one is larger - a full 8x12. The old door that was at the back is also used again, but another pallet (48"x48") is inserted int he back as well as in the front. Our boarder got a larger tarp at no charge and put it up in place of the much smaller blue one... Eventually, we'd like to bolt it together instead of just having it tied up with haystring, put a metal roof (red to match the house and outbuildings) and put up sidewalls in white OR paint the pallet walls white. When we bolt it back together, we need to turn the pallets so that the inside slats can be used as shelving. For now, this works wonders!! Stores feed/hay/tack for our boarder's mini horse and pony and feed for our 6 pony boys... Have the supplies, just need to built the one for the pony girls and then another for our equipment that needs to be covered.

 

[Oatbucket]

Mine are doing great it in. We did extend it to make it bigger. I wish I could have a huge area for them, but we're in town so there is only so much space for chickens, geese, dogs, garden, and space for children to play.

 

[Oatbucket]

We did a hoop run for our coop and we simply could not be more pleased with its appearance and its performance. It's exceeded all of our expectations! We live in town and our setup is easily visible from the street, so we wanted it to look nice as well as be functional. We got 3 panels, arched them and attached them to 4 metal fenceposts on each side (driven deeply into the ground) then covered the panels with chicken wire to deter overhead predators. We also "sewed" hardware cloth to the bottom 2 feet, then extended that out another 2 feet to deter diggers. Worked, too - I guarantee you that our persistent English setter gave up quickly after she broke and bloodied a toenail. We put a little white vinyl lattice fence in front of it to make it look nice, and this winter we put the same lattice over the entire run then covered it in greenhouse plastic. The draped over lattice keeps little pokies (inevitable when attaching chicken wire to the panels) from ripping up the plastic in the wind. It's held up through our wild Wyoming winds and not even an 8 inch snowfall distorted the shape of it. Love it! This spring the plan is keep the draped lattice on the run for shade and then to add one more panel for a little additional length, which will be a snap to accomplish!


Motel Chix

Notice that the run is offset from the coop. Had to do that to allow for a tree Ken did not want to remove. There's also more room for expansion going that direction. We have a three sided tunnel, right there where you see the pop door cover, which serves as a wind break against winds blowing into the coop.

Ken finishing up the winter protection. We like the look of the run completely covered in the white lattice so we're keeping that up.

Standing inside the run looking toward the South. We're so glad we went with the hoop run!

That looks great!