crowdofmyself
Songster
When Wayfair sent me a completely new patio gazebo free when two of the bolts in my first one were bent, I took the leap to seriously override my partner's objections to chickens. Here's the gazebo, and I have a second one I will use as my run frame, sans the fabric cover and raised venting portion of the structure: https://goo.gl/WVG9Zb
I plan to totally enclose the top and sides with black 2x3 welded wire fencing and bend some hardware cloth to be a ground skirt and side protection up to about 18" to 2'.
I ordered a small Formex Snap-lock coop (https://goo.gl/xQDE9p) and a Gorilla cart (https://goo.gl/MKPkjT). I'm going to build the frame for the coop per the instructions and see if there is any way to rig it so it will sit on top of the Gorilla cart and be stable; that will give me a way to pull the coop all around our big lot and put up temporary free-range pens around it with ziplocks and the twelve 2x4 gridwall panels I use in various ways in my garden. If I can't figure this out, I'll just build a fixed frame with 2' underneath as they recommend. But the Gorilla cart would also sit the coop up off the ground about 2' and give me a place to stick stuff underneath and also a little space on the ~10" overhangs to hang water and/or food.
I'll seat regular concrete blocks on top of the hardware cloth skirt all around the outside of the gazebo frame with liriope or something hardy/perennial chickens can eat planted in them. The door to the run is what's got me perplexed (for I am not handy), but I'm thinking I'll get a 2x6 pack of gridwall panels (https://goo.gl/w5qMPv) and use two of them (covered with hardware cloth, too, at least at the bottom) as a door into my run affixed with carabiners. That would give me a four-foot door width and the 40" coop on wheels would fit through that if I want to pull it out occasionally. I'd use three 16" pavers as a threshold. Maybe???
I ordered the Hentronix automatic door opener and just have to watch the sun patterns to see if I can mount the solar panel on the egg-side roof or if I'll have to set it out with an extension cord. I roughed out what I think the coop will be like within the run, and there are a number of ways the whole thing could be positioned depending on what the sun/shade needs are.
I also have an old 9' patio umbrella with weighted stand that I could sit in the middle of the run if need be to provide an added deterrent to overhead predators. But I very much have to see and feel physically how things will come together, drag things around, think about it, etc. No doubt I'm leaving out something extremely important in my visualizations. Please tell me if you see anything I'm missing! I don't want to do all the work only to realize the best laid plans won't work....
I plan to totally enclose the top and sides with black 2x3 welded wire fencing and bend some hardware cloth to be a ground skirt and side protection up to about 18" to 2'.
I ordered a small Formex Snap-lock coop (https://goo.gl/xQDE9p) and a Gorilla cart (https://goo.gl/MKPkjT). I'm going to build the frame for the coop per the instructions and see if there is any way to rig it so it will sit on top of the Gorilla cart and be stable; that will give me a way to pull the coop all around our big lot and put up temporary free-range pens around it with ziplocks and the twelve 2x4 gridwall panels I use in various ways in my garden. If I can't figure this out, I'll just build a fixed frame with 2' underneath as they recommend. But the Gorilla cart would also sit the coop up off the ground about 2' and give me a place to stick stuff underneath and also a little space on the ~10" overhangs to hang water and/or food.
I'll seat regular concrete blocks on top of the hardware cloth skirt all around the outside of the gazebo frame with liriope or something hardy/perennial chickens can eat planted in them. The door to the run is what's got me perplexed (for I am not handy), but I'm thinking I'll get a 2x6 pack of gridwall panels (https://goo.gl/w5qMPv) and use two of them (covered with hardware cloth, too, at least at the bottom) as a door into my run affixed with carabiners. That would give me a four-foot door width and the 40" coop on wheels would fit through that if I want to pull it out occasionally. I'd use three 16" pavers as a threshold. Maybe???
I ordered the Hentronix automatic door opener and just have to watch the sun patterns to see if I can mount the solar panel on the egg-side roof or if I'll have to set it out with an extension cord. I roughed out what I think the coop will be like within the run, and there are a number of ways the whole thing could be positioned depending on what the sun/shade needs are.
I also have an old 9' patio umbrella with weighted stand that I could sit in the middle of the run if need be to provide an added deterrent to overhead predators. But I very much have to see and feel physically how things will come together, drag things around, think about it, etc. No doubt I'm leaving out something extremely important in my visualizations. Please tell me if you see anything I'm missing! I don't want to do all the work only to realize the best laid plans won't work....
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