...before my membership lapses ... my 'chicken dome' revisited

[Hens4Fun]

We no longer live where I can have chickens

.... don't get me started. So before I let my membership lapse and my photos become history ... I thought I would share our CHICKEN DOME pictures once more. The PVC was a super good idea and worked out really well. In brief, the run was 24-feet long, 16-feet wide. We used picket fencing turned upside down so the points were in the ground... secured each PVC in two places along the inside of the run; glued the arching pvc across with 45-deg joints; used ties and nylon filament to hold the shade cloth in place; heavy gauge wire cloth stapled along the inside of the picket fencing to keep chickens in; and the gap between the picket fence & shade cloth is a super heavy bird netting. It has held up through Santa Ana winds and super heavy rainstorms earlier this year. The one thing I would change would be to use a lighter color of shade cloth...the green heated up more than I thought it would when the sun was high. (oh, and we have no illusions the upside-down picket fence posts will rot in the ground in time...so picket fencing was also secured with metal posts).

 

[Tala]

Very neat!!!

 

[knjinnm]

Sooo why can't you have HENS?

 

[Hens4Fun]

oh doncha know ... Homeowners Assoc ....

the city and mostly all house, no yard

 

[Kittymomma]

OH, THANK YOU!!!

I live in the PNW and this weekends project is trying to figure out how to cover all/most of the run for winter. I have a huge tarp that I can re-use for the project, but have been going crazy--crazier??? trying to figure out how to do something that will hopefully survive what is predicted to be a pretty bad winter with much more snow than we usually get. Budget (or lack there of) and the fact that this is a DIY for me, and me alone means that I can't do something like a tin roof. the crew has a 10'x30' run so it would be a major undertaking--I can get some pvc though and screw brackets into the 4x4 posts, using the angled pieces like you did will at least give me a chance that the snow will come off before collapsing the tarp. I'm sooo much more excited about my project now. Thank you, Thank you Thank you!!!!

 

[Hens4Fun]

YAY!!!! I'm glad someone could use the idea! It really was simple and turned out super sturdy with the pvc!

By the way I secured the PVC on the wood with metal conduit clamps...like these

 

[Kittymomma]

Thanks, I'm going to install it on top of 10' 4"x4" posts so I'm thinking about the flat brackets with bolt holes on each side and a "hole" for the pipe on top. I think if I put a 6-12" piece of straight pipe in the bracket and then glue an angle onto that it should work pretty well.

I tend to modify as I go, but that's the plan for now. I've got a much better idea of how to go about it now though, so thanks again for posting.

Really sad that you're living where you can't have chooks anymore, hopefully your address or the bylaws will change soon--looks like you were a great chicken mommy and had some very spoiled chooks.

 

[ladybug99]

hmmm That looks as if it would make a nice simple green gouse as well!!! I have been wanting to buy one buy they are wayyy to expensive

Thanks for putting the idea in my head

 

[annie3001]

what a very neat looking run. sorry you cant have chickens, darn housing rules. thanks for sharing your coop!

 

[vickie2133]

Awwww I would be having chicken withdraws. It was a very nice coop thanks you for sharing. I may also use this with some of my coops.