Catio to Hen House

[SourRoses]

I do plan to move it once I have the yard leveled. It will be kinda heavy, but even after fortifying it we should be able to move it with some help - a person on each side, or pop it up on sliders and pull it with the truck. Thinking ahead, the roost, poop boards, nesting boxes, corrugated roofing and siding panels will all be removable to unload some weight when we need to move it.
It's not ideal, but it's what I have to work with, so I guess I'll find a way to make it work, haha!

I found some wheels suitable for this kind of thing, they are expensive though - $100ish for 4. They each can support 500lb, are big enough for rolling on dirt, and swivel so you don't get too stuck. If you want a link I can dig it up for you later?

Edit: here it is anyway while I was thinking about it. Mounted underneath they would raise the coop, but I know the chicken tractor people use wheels in different ways... one design has them winching down, but it may be possible to vertically mount them (on the sides of the posts?)?

wheels

 

[krthaymp]

Thanks, @SourRoses !
I think I'm going to hold off on this for now - struggling to find light weight corrugated plastic that's either a good size, or a good price for multiple sheets. I may end up tarping the roof for now, just to get it up and going. I should have bought those panels before building costs started shooting up.

 

[krthaymp]

Has anyone in a hot/ humid location just used heavy duty tarp to cover their hen house?
Thinking the roof and around the sides leaving one end open.

 

[NatJ]

Has anyone in a hot/ humid location just used heavy duty tarp to cover their hen house?
Thinking the roof and around the sides leaving one end open.

I've done it in northern Virginia. That included winter weather that dropped below freezing, sometimes with heavy wind. Snow typically fell a few times each winter, and I'd sweep it off before it had a chance to get too heavy. For several years I used one tarp in the summer (covered the top and two sides down to roost level, with the roosts being near the middle of the pen, away from both open ends). For winter I'd put on a bigger tarp, to provide shelter for more area and from more directions. I'd say it worked pretty well overall.

Plan to replace the tarp when it wears out. Make sure the material supporting the tarp is strong enough to deal with whatever lands on top: snow, or ice, or freezing rain, or fallen tree branches, or whatever might happen in your area. Consider the rare events, not just the common ones, because you don't want to be frantically dealing with a failed chicken pen while also dealing with the worst weather your area has seen in a decade-- that's not the best time to buy supplies and fix anything!

You might look for hoop coops in the articles section of the site. Many of them use tarps to keep out the weather (sun, wind, rain, etc). They are meant to be used day and night, in summer and sometimes in winter too (depends on the climate and the person using them.) Seeing what other people have done might be helpful for deciding what you want to try.

For weather that is hot and humid, you might not even want to cover three sides with a tarp. Make sure the roost area stays dry and out of the wind, but otherwise the more open it is, the better it will be in weather like that.

And do make sure to fasten the tarp securely. I learned the hard way that if a tarp can wiggle or flap at all, it may soon be ripped or torn completely off.

 

[krthaymp]

Here’s the latest. I was finally able to secure some sheet metal roofing panels at a decent price and we have a roof! However, I’m not sure how to put the siding on. The panels aren’t wide enough to cover the full height of the walls, which is fine given out climate, but I thought the roosting barks would be low enough that I could install the panels at ground level, leaving a gap at the top under the roof for air flow, but I think the roosting barks is too high. That means installing it at the top with a gap at the bottom. I can’t center it with a gap at the top and bottom because there’s no wood to secure it to in the middle.
What do y’all think?