trampoline chicken coop - update

[friedkitty]

When using metal for building every screw adds strength, you might want to put a 2 tek screw at each joint of the trampoline frame, and screw all cross members where its possible, It will take out most if not all of the give and flexing of the frame.

I have screwed the joint together, and the places the PVC "hoops" are connected at the top are also screwed. The bottom are strapped on using flattened out chain link straps.

It has turned out a lot heavier than I expected. I figure I'll have to move it using poles laid down in front of it like an assembly line. It took four of us to turn it around yesterday, and I dont even have the wire or siding on it yet.

I finished the floor - 2x4 fencing - folded up and stapled to the frame, then I will put the siding rail over that to hold it down. I'll post pictures of that tonight after work.

Unfortunately it's supposed to ran today, so I may not get to do ant building after work. I hope not, because the girls are getting antsy in their little box!

 

[CrestedGirl]

Love the design and the idea!

 

[Robert Boyd]

Quote:
I have screwed the joint together, and the places the PVC "hoops" are connected at the top are also screwed. The bottom are strapped on using flattened out chain link straps.

It has turned out a lot heavier than I expected. I figure I'll have to move it using poles laid down in front of it like an assembly line. It took four of us to turn it around yesterday, and I dont even have the wire or siding on it yet.

I finished the floor - 2x4 fencing - folded up and stapled to the frame, then I will put the siding rail over that to hold it down. I'll post pictures of that tonight after work.

Unfortunately it's supposed to ran today, so I may not get to do ant building after work. I hope not, because the girls are getting antsy in their little box!

this is a really cool idea:^} I cant wait to see those pics, cause my kids have busted their trampoline, and I need to build a coop.
enjoy your day at work and I hope it doesnt rain you out.....

 

[friedkitty]

The coop is finished. There were a few problems along the way, and a few modifications after the fox dismantled the bottom layer of siding...but that comes later.

I will post pics tomorrow, if I can get the computer to cooperate. At the moment it is refusing to let me access the browse function of the upload page. ( This thing has a mind of its own sometimes. If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was mad at me for something.)

**glances nervously at CPU** ... Naaah.

Pychotic computers aside, the build was actually pretty fun. It was nowhere near as light as I was expecting it to be, so it went from chicken tractor to semi-portable coop/run. After framing up the bottom, I ran fencing (that 2x4 inch stuff you use with the green poles) under the whole thing. This serves as the floor for both the yard and the coop. (No poop to clean up...Yay!!!) I enclosed the back section with chicken wire, and the front half with hardware cloth. Then I enclosed the chicken wire with the old vinyl siding. Now, this is where I ran into my first major problem. You would think that with me leveling, and squaring, and measuring that this would be a breeze. But apparently PVC is flexible. Who would have thunk it? So one side ended up bigger than the other so when my siding got to the top it was not lined up square with the center. It actually angled and met in the front, but had a foot wide gap in the back.

Well, at this point I could either strip it all off and start over, or just adapt. I asked the girls what they would prefer and they just looked at me from their little 2x3 brooder box and cocked their little heads and peeped a little. Roughly translated I took it to mean "GET US OUT OF THIS SARDINE CAN NOW!!!" So I adapted.

I overlapped another piece of siding, and ran a piece of the corner molding over the seam. Now this is not centered, and so gives the coop a little off centered look, but all in all it was acceptable. My daughter built a door with some scrap lumber and an old kitchen drawer facing, and after a little more tweaking and stapling and sewing together of wire, it was finally enclosed.

Now where to roost? I had one of the legs of the trampoline still attached, but it is waaaaaaay to high for them to reach at this young age. So looking around the yard in all of the various scrap piles, we located my kids old crib. Now I know that drop side cribs are supposed to be a no-no now, but I figured with a little modification the girls wouldnt mind. So I used the side and attached it to the walls on the inside for a roost. Now Mrs. Kitty was impressed by this but pointed out that it was still too high and I was in danger of them using the nesting boxes for roosts in the meantime. So I cut off a small piece of the other side and screwed it to a short piece of 2x4 about 8 inches off the ground. With this final touch, it was time to move the girls in.

 

[86121]

Dang that is nifty!

 

[friedkitty]

So I moved the girls in and all was fine. They loved it. They hopped in and out the window, and ran and flew at each other and had a good old time. At night I turned on their light and they all went in the coop and I shut the window and all was right with the world for two days.

and then.....

I go out in the morning and find every piece of siding along the bottom row has been pulled off. There are teeth marks in the next row up ALL THE WAY AROUND. The wire has been grabbed and pulled to little points in several places, and there is the beginnings of a hole being dug underneath the frame. I am thrilled.

Yes thrilled.

All 15 girls were happily pecking around inside the coop and the fox/dog/coyote had tried every way til Sunday to get in AND COULDN'T!!! I had successfully built a safe home for my girls out of junk and wire. All the critter ( I think it's a fox, cause I've seen him around. I call him Phil.) had done was point out some potential weak points for me to reinforce. So I replaced the sideing and added a couple of upright supports on the inside, then screwed the siding down to that as well. I also ran a row of screws along the bottom row of siding so it couldn't be pulled out at all. I added a small strip of hardware wire on top of the chicken wire before I screwed the siding down for extra protection.

Then I got creative. Now usually when this happens it involves band-aids, disinfectant and/or lots of analgesics, but this time it worked. I remembered that the carriage lamps on the front of the old house had been motion sensor activated. I had also run over a 150 foot extension cord with my mower and cut the end off the weekend before. Now the way my brain works, it actually connected these two, and before you knew it, I had pulled the lamps, and the box, wired it up to the extension cord, and Voila...the coop now has a motion activated security system. (and a fancy one at that!) Phil has tried to dig under twice more since then, and tonight I applied a liberal amount of cayenne around his favorite digging spot. We'll see if that helps any. It doesn't seem to phase the girls any. They don't seem stressed at all, and really seem to enjoy their new home.

 

[okay chicken rookie]

Quote:
This looks so cool! I have an old trampoline in my backyard, and was wondering what i could do with it. Now i know. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Mallory]

^^I was sort've thinking the same thing... just a lot smaller scale. The kids have a small trampoline (like 2-5 year old size) that I won't let them use because my sons much to daring. There is a netting around it, but the poles are bent so its in the way of the jumping. No way will he be jumping on that thing without it, so its basically been out of commission for two summers, wasting away collect webs in the pole barn. Maybe I can follow the OPs lead here and make myself a hen brooder run with it. Can't wait to see how you've finished it up! Sounds cool and looks neat from what you've shared so far!

 

[friedkitty]

My computer has decided to stop holding a grudge, and is letting me upload the pics now. Give me a few minutes...

**eyeballs CPU suspiciously**

It must want something.

 

[friedkitty]

Here's the finished coop prior to the initial visit by Phil.

Everything here is recycled with the exception of the wire and the screws.

Here is their "training" roost.