Bendable Material for Top of Run???

[LilMissChz]

My husband wants to build an enclosure for the chicken coop and make a run we can walk into. He wants a curved roof like a quonset hut that he can cover with wire. Any ideas on the kinds of materials we could use that would bend nicely that you could attach wire to?

 

[Fleabuskitty]

PVC pipe, maybe? Do you mean like a hoop coop? I've seen a lot of photos of hoop coops made from PVC pipe and feedlot panels.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

It will depend on the size of the run, and how much you're willing to spend

Cattle panels are good if it's not too wide.

PVC won't last very long in the Sun.

Metal tubing can be done in most any length, but will be expensive.

By the time you go to all the effort and expense to design and fabricate something, you might be just as well off to buy one of these, although it's not quite rounded:
http://lowestpricegardensale.com/shelterlogic-10-x-20-feet-canopy-2-inch-4-rib-frame-white-cover/

 

[RonC]

Electrical conduit could be bent into a curve. The metal conduit would require a bender of some sort. I believe the PVC electrical conduit is also UV resistant so would last longer in the sun.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

How large would the structure be? When you say "quonset hut," I'm thinking you're looking at building something fairly large. For buildings 10' or wider I would bend 17 gauge galvanized fence top rails using a hoop bender to form the skeleton of the structure (hoop house). You can then cover it with wire. You can find lots of pictures and ideas here for building very strong and relatively inexpensive structures. Here is a .pdf file that walks you through the entire process of constructing such a structure. They're most often used for building green houses, but they can be used for other purposes. I've seen pictures of them used as chicken runs and peafowl enclosures and they make magnificent spaces. This company also sells benders for electrical conduit as suggested by RonC, which could be used for smaller and narrower structures. You can also use cattle panels to bend into hoops to make structures intermediate in size and yet large enough to walk inside. There are lots of examples of them here on BYC; here is an excellent recent example of one.

 

[LilMissChz]

That last example is exactly what I needed. Thanks, I will email that page to my husband so he has the whole thing as an example.