Almost done with a hoop house and have a few questions....PICS post #9

[shelleyd2008]

About the only thing I have left to do on this hoop house is to add the roosts, cover it with a tarp, affix something to keep the door closed, and add the birdies

First, a bit of background on hoop houses in case someone's not familiar with them. They are made out of 2 hog/cattle panels affixed to a wooden base, then covered with wire. The top and back of the hoop house is covered with a tarp to keep the elements out for the most part. Nest boxes and roosts are underneath the tarp. They are basically a big coop/run/tractor thingy.

Mine is 8'x8'x69" high in center, has a door in the front center of the pen, and has 2-1"x4" boards as braces on the back. The back braces come to an upside-down 'V'.

So the biggest problem I'm having is how to add the roosts? I have 26 almost-8-week-old LF pullet chicks that will be going into this 8'x8' hoop house. They will be staying in this indefinitely. I plan on selling about half of them in the spring, but the others will be staying. So I'll need enough roost space for say 15 full grown birds eventually, but a few more as of right now. So how much roost space would I need, and how do I attach them inside a hoop house?

They as of now still have a heat light, how much longer will they need it? How can I put a heat light in this thing if they do? Nighttime temps have been in the 30's and 40's already

I was thinking of putting a tarp inside the house, so that it hangs down in front of where they would be roosting at. How doable is this?

Any tips are appreciated, if I hadn't been doing it myself I'd have pics!

 

[DawnSuiter]

Well.. sounds like two 6' 2X4's might work for you.
You can mount them on one end on each side of the upside down V
and cross them over each other across the center of your coop and attach them to a partial upright to make a big X in the center.
Here's what I mean with the "partial upright" which is what what end of this perch sits on

 

[gsim]

I am having trouble picturing it. If you have a rigid panel on each side, should be no problem. L-brackets and 2x2's. Figure about 8" of roost space per bird to avoid fighting. If you want to put the roosts on the hoops, that is going to be a problem.

My perches are at 24" and 48" ht. My nests are at 24" ht on opposite wall. I have had perches with my chooks since day 1. I started with 4" tall perches, then made one at 8", all in the first week. KTkhey were useing them from day one too. So mine have always had them and it is no new experience to them. In fact, mine do not use the ladders inside the coop. They jump up to the 24" one, then to the 48" one. So for me, it was easy. You may have to introduce them to it with a lower one at first. No way to tell until the day comes. Some breeds perch more readily than others too for some reason.

 

[sashurlow]

gsim, try this...https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=172799&p=1
I liked it so much I'm building one myself, heavily modified of cource.
Shelly... is it covered in wire yet? I would just use 2x4s and run them across the hoop such that the perches are sitting on the cattle panels. Making a groove in the 2x4 (where it meets the cattle panels) will keep it in place along with a nail or two. Trim off extra 2x4 sticking outside the hoop. It would leave a bulge in the wire, but should not be that big of a deal. Personally, mine is 8x12 and will only have 4 chickens, so my roost will be different.
Scott

 

[jenjscott]

I have three hoop houses and each one has a different type of roost. One has the boards supported on the livestock panel like sashurlow said. One has traditional wood sawhorses (nice cause you can move them) and in the other one I put electric fence posts (could use any type of post depending on how tall you wanted it, etc) at 4' intervals on alternate sides of the roost board, then lashed the roost board to the posts. If you used the larger fence posts, you wouldn't need them that close together.

 

[RuffTuffCreampuff]

I built my roosts out of left over 2" pvc. No problems so far. I built another roost out of left over 1"x 1" scrap lumber. Both seem to work out ok. My nest boxes are 5 gallon kitty litter buckets. My favorite hoop coop is a triple I built for my guineas and turkeys. The back wall is framed with 2"x4" and covered with 1/2" particle board. The DW found a gallon of pretty brown stain for $5 (Home Depot sells them as "Oops!") to seal the particle board and wood framing from the elements. Their roost was made from two 2"x4" attached at the top and run to the floor of the coop. I cut notches in the 2"x4"s and made the roost bars from 2" diameter tree branches. All residents of this coop seem pretty satsified with this arrangement.

 

[shelleyd2008]

It would have been easier to put the roosts in before putting the wire on, unfortunately I didn't think of that

I put some small pieces of wood onto the upside down 'V', then screwed the ends of the roosts onto these. The other end of the roost is setting on the cattle panels, and held 'in place' by zip ties. I'm sure this will need to be redone, but it's all I could think of at the time

Um, what else? How else can I fix the ends of the roosts onto the panels, to make sure they'll stay? I was thinking of using small blocks of wood, and putting the screws in 'around' the panel wire, if that makes sense. I don't see how I can do this with the wire already on there, so how else can I do it? Or another method of attaching the roost to the panel? I'm sure the panels are strong enough to hold the roosts, i just need to make sure they don't slip off. They shouldn't, each roost has 2 or 3 screws in the end that is attached to the upside down 'V', but you never know.

The birdies are in there right now, even though it's not 100% done. I had to go and get another tarp, the one I had wasn't quite big enough to completely cover the back, nor the sides all the way down. It was dark when I got back, so I wasn't able to put the other tarp on. It's not supposed to be too cold here tonight, so they should be fine.

I also added a few extra birds in there

that will be moving out as soon as the chicken building is done. Only about 9 silkies, and they sleep on the floor anyway

so no extra roost space needed for them.

The roosts are approximately 2' and 4' high, and the pullet chicks have had roosts, so they know what to do. Of course, some of them have decided that the corner braces are roosts, and are sleeping on there

This is one other reason why I wanted to make sure the sides and back were completely covered, I figured some would use the corner braces.

I will try to get pics tomorrow, once it's finally finished

It's taken a bit longer than I anticipated, but it's also a lot easier than I thought it would be. I just hope it is sufficient for the winter.

Does anyone else use these all winter long?

 

[lavacaw]

Drill a hole a couple of inches from the end of the roost and wire or zip tie it to the panel. I wired mine on and they are working fine.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Okay, finally got pics!!

Side view:

Front view:

How I attached the roosts:

Some of the residents

:

I guess I put the tarps too far up on the sides, since there is a bit of a gap in the back. However, I don't really think the gap is going to be much of a problem.

I think I might get another, smaller tarp to cover the top some more, it doesn't come up far enough for my liking. The feeders were sitting on the ground in the pics, but I've since put chains in there to hang them on.

So what do you think?

 

[DawnSuiter]

Shelley, you did a WONDERFUL job!!! Congrats on your completion!
Feels good doesn't it????

I just finished a 45square foot brooder... whew! I know how you feel!