A frame vs hoop for breeding pens

[miss heny]

So I'm currently in the process of try to research and design a coop plan for oegb bantam breeders. I got ideas for conditioning pen, grow out and brooder but breeder pen I'm sorta stumped. I have arthritic joints so want it to be accessible, planning to make a automatic waterer and feed system, while preferably letting them have greens.

I live in northern Mississippi, so our weather is blistering hot in the summer and muddy wet in the winter. Already decided on sand for the coop floor.

So give me thy wisdom oh breeders of byc! I hope to use alot if pallet wood if possible for these too.

 

[sdm111]

Due to several factors that limited my ability to construct my own coop/run last spring I ended up buying an 8x8 enclosure from TSC.
That they do deliver.
BUT
if you don't have a loading dock and/or forklift, you are better off opting for store delivery. They send that thing on a semi that could not get into my neighborhood. And it didn't have a lift gate. I like it though. I do need to add more tarp to the roof though. this damn rain makes me wish I had gotten ducks!

I had to take into consideration that I only had a short bed truck. Each pen takes 1 8 foot and 1 ten foot 2x4 for frame. 10' section of 2x4 welded wire 5' tall. If you're gonna have numbers I'd also suggest a watering system so you don't have to go in each pen. I use gallon milk jugs cut so they can drink from it with it outside the pen. Have a pile of them so you just have to fill the appropriate amount of jugs and swap out the old ones so you just have to go to each pen once.
I've thrown a few pics in.
Waterers made from jugs
Buckets made into nests. I take the cut out part and screw it to the top as a lil canopy to help with rain
And some cheap round growout pens for the young ones as they grow and are kept as prospects to keep without messing with each other and can be culled as needed.
I can't emphasize housing and misc. Stuff enough.

 

[sdm111]

Domes all the way

 

[U_Stormcrow]

as a matter of geometry, A frames are the least resource efficient structure you can build.
I don't know a thing about OEGB needs, but I know that cattle panel hoop coops are easy to construct, light weight., have good tolerance for high winds if anchored correctly, are rather inexpensive, and can be bent into shapes that are easy to walk in - though not well suited to great widths - which is a consideration if you have dominant birds.

I don't know what you have for existing, free standing structures you might make use of either. Or your predator considerations. I have a rose arch made with a pair of cattle panels, anchored into a raised bed, and attached at the top to the side of an existing shed. Its surprisingly roomy.

I'll find a picture.

 

[TwoShepherds]

I'm not a builder at all, but I wanted a second coop and I didn't want to pay 5K for it, so I attempted a cattle panel hoop coop last summer. It's not pretty and it's not perfect, but I'm fairly satisfied with it so far. Unfortunately, rodents started digging under my predator apron a few months after I built it. I had to put down some hardware cloth for flooring (luckily, I had plenty left over), and that seems to have solved the problem. I'm going to make a similar one for an extra shelter for my goats in a few weeks.

[NOTE: the run is from Amazon, and I love it, but it is not predator proofed at all. I'm not concerned about daytime predators and the flock is locked in the coop at night, and it is lined with hardware cloth.]

 

[miss heny]

I'd suggest 4' wide x 5' deep x 4' high dome pens. For an actual breeding program. Like said before you're gonna have to be able to separate. Then your show birds I've found do best on wire to keep thier tail right. Put wheat straw in the domes to keep them off the ground too. Works well to wick water away from them

Yeah, I been digging around for what alot of the larger operations are using. I don't want wire bottom but I realized them on grass may not function long term. So figuring sand, straw and doing a fodder system so they'll have greens. I am very blessed with a boyfriend who father works in construction and has lots of left over supplies so I been expanding on potential pen designs that could be multi purpose like this:

With the ability to put in dividers for breeders, or remove for grow out etc. I got till fall to get everything situated but I prefer to over research.

 

[HomesteadDeb]

Now, a caveat here: TSC does not deliver the fence panels everybody raves about to make DIY structures! They are 16' long I believe. That makes for some tricky transit!ha I

Having worked at a store that sells them and transported many and built several hoop coops, it isn't tricky if you have a pick up or at least a 5 ft trailer. They are very flexible and can be bent to fit without causing a permanent warp in the metal. I haul mine on a 5x10 trailer behind a jeep, you just have to get someone to help you pull the ends together and you can slid them right in. In a pickup you tuck one end into the bed and bend it over to tuvk the other end in so it looks just like a hoop coop driving down the road. Just make sure to ratchet strap tight and BE CAREFUL UNLOADING if you are by yourself. The panels will want to spring out fast when you release them and can send you to the hospital quick!

 

[miss heny]

Nah, just dark That stuff that rolled through Jackson over the last few hours isn't here until midmorning tommorow. At 5'1 you should be able to do an 8' wide arch and not feel like you need to duck your head.

Have you considered tractoring? Works best with flat ground - south end of your state.

We live on a "hill" (being from Oregon it pains me to call this road bump a hill) and with these birds I want to keep them pretty close-ish to the house for security. Our layers and my special mutts will probably get tractor like housing.

 

[Krugerrand]

Now, a caveat here: TSC does not deliver the fence panels everybody raves about to make DIY structures! They are 16' long I believe. That makes for some tricky transit!

Here is an article I tossed together on transporting 16' cattle panel using the roof rack on a minivan.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/transporting-cattle-panel.77942/

 

[miss heny]

Due to several factors that limited my ability to construct my own coop/run last spring I ended up buying an 8x8 enclosure from TSC.
That they do deliver.
BUT
if you don't have a loading dock and/or forklift, you are better off opting for store delivery. They send that thing on a semi that could not get into my neighborhood. And it didn't have a lift gate. I like it though. I do need to add more tarp to the roof though. this damn rain makes me wish I had gotten ducks!

Thankfully we got a truck and trailer, plus a tractor that got attachable forks.

Ugh, rain so bad even the winter wood ducks that visit are no where to be seen