Cattle panel chicken coop HELP!!

[goldeaglenest]

Hi all, so I attempted a Plamondon style chicken coop with cattle panel. However, 16 ft cattle panel was too much to ask my little car to carry and so I opted for 8 foot panels, thinking I could attach them in the middle. Anyway, all looked great until I shook the whole thing to test stability and fencing staples started popping out and all I could do was watch the whole thing fall into a heap on the ground. So...glad this happened BEFORE chickens were in it!

Does anyone have suggestions for using 8 foot lengths of cattle panel instead of 16 foot lengths?

I already have an 8 x10 frame built with two by fours and corner braces. It is very strong. The instability came from trying to attach the panels in the middle at the top of the coop. The whole thing ends up being under a good bit of pressure.

Any ideas would be much appreciated!! I'm working with what I have/can fit on my car!

Here is a picture of what it looked like before it broke (don't laugh, I'm not a builder!)
The panels were attached using three fence staples (3/4 inch--maybe these are too small?) per opening in the panels both at the top Down the center line and at the bottom on both sides. Part of the top started pulling loose and one of the sides. The rest took real effort for me to disassemble so I am not sure why some of it was falling apart and other parts weren't...

 

[goldeaglenest]

Also, the rope you see at he top was just to hold the panels together while I stapled because they kept moving out of alignment as I was hammering away. The rope itself is not in any way part of the structural integrity!

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Use a third panel to overlap the two, i would wire the first two then overlap and wire the third one down.

Good luck

Gary

 

[paintedChix]

If the base of your panels are attached with 3/4" staples, replace them with 2" fence staples. Our chickens can push out 1 1/4" & 1 1/2" staples and we had to go with 2" ones. Predators can definitely pop them out - especially if attached on the outside of the base - LOTS of pressure on those tiny/short staples - not enough length to hold the cattle panel to the board base. How did you get the 3/4" staple to "fit" around the cattle panel? Also, the panels would need to be attached at every square (20 staples - at the top arch) and possibly more. Similar to the way you did the bottom (that I can see).

To go with the idea suggested by Gary. If you go with the arch, then pull the ends together & overlap by one or two (stronger) full squares and wire it together first (one continuous wrap from one end to the other) on both sides, then attach your ridge pole centered between the overlapped edges. I would use counter sunk u-bolts to attach the "doubled"(overlapped) panels to your "ridgepole" - at least 4 & possibly more. Pulling the ends together and overlapping them will lower the finished height of your project, but you will gain back the stability that you need to support whatever you use for your roofing. There will still be a tremendous amount of pressure on the two "sides" or ends that are wired together - that's why I recommend wrapping it with wire (or sturdy rope). This should work and hold up well for you.

Or instead of an arch, you could wire top panels together in an "A" frame. You will gain the strength back that you lost by using the short panels and trying for an arch that has lost it's support. The two panels butting together will be strong. You can also still use a ridge pole, too. If you do, you will still need to attach it with something stronger than 3/4" staples every 3'.

What are you building on the open end where the cattle panel doesn't go all the way to the end of the base unit? I'm figuring that's where you are putting a wall and nesting boxes?

You are on the right track, don't give up. Our "temporary" hooped coops, meant to be movable tractors, have turned into permanent housing for 3 different sets of hens/roosters and have survived two full moves on pickup truck beds not fully supported on both sides, high winds and driving rains (+ hurricane Matthew) and ice storms here in NC. The oldest one was finished in Sept 2014 and the newest in November 2014. So the oldest is a little more than 2 1/2 yrs old. It was also "tractored around" on our first property where it was built and again when we finally moved into this property.

We plan on building more hoop coops - as permanent structures. We LIKE them!!! We even use them in conjunction with pallets to make "sheds".

To see how we set up the first one and the build and a couple of pics of the temp shed when we moved the ponies off the leased property to rented space while we closed on our permanent property - go here - Maintenance and Pony work

 

[Hokum Coco]

Does anyone have suggestions for using 8 foot lengths of cattle panel

I would cut the wire border off one end of the wire panel exposing the vertical wire legs on each grid. Then drill the 2x4 to aline the wires of the grid through the frame. Clinch them over on the underside and staple them down on top if possible. If you bend the wire all in the same direction the structure would be less likely to catch on the ground when pulled in the opposite direction. You could even cut them off blind so they do not protrude out the other side and staple them in place from on top.

With a table saw you could also cut a channel for the grid to rest in.
Or you could just staple them on the inside of the frame work.

 

[Doc Schoepp]

Hokum's suggestion is great for simplicity. You could also put another piece of wood and sandwich the bent metal to cover the sharp ends and prevent it from being pulled out.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Placing the panels on the interior of the frame helps to stabilize things with regards to anything popping loose on that front as the force of the bend of the panel is already pushing out -- having the frame on the outside works with rather than against that. Having a board run from the ridge pole (the board you have running down the middle at the top) down to the frame at each end would also help....if your going to put a door at one end your frame for the door will serve this purpose for that end.

 

[goldeaglenest]

Thank you all for your suggestions! Coop is finished and Take 2 was very successful after learning from the collapsed remains of take 1 and all of your suggestions!

I ended up overlapping two sections of panel on either end and wiring them together on both ends. This produced a very sturdy structure. I also replaced the 3/4 inch staples with 1 3/4 inch (that's all they had at Home Depot and tractor supply!!) and these seem to work well. I stapled to the inside as suggested and couldn't believe I didn't think of this in the first place! Much better to be working WITH the pressure that builds up when you bend the panels rather than against it, of course! I ditched the whole two by four running down the center because it was just so unwieldy. Overlapping the panels was also just easier.

Lastly I covered the entire thing with hardware cloth and then a tarp.

The little chickens (7 weeks old now) are loving their new accommodations and all the grass they get to scratch through! Thanks all!

 

[paintedChix]

O! Looks like it turned out quite AWESOME. NICE JOB.

I love how you did the door! Nifty idea, that.

My doors also swing out and I'm going to be adding a "strip" of hardware cloth at the bottom of the open section - to keep the DLM inside the coop and to keep chickens from running out the door when it's opened. I don't mind sometimes and do let them out that way sometimes, but don't like it when they rush the door and it makes it hard for the granddaughters to open the coop doors to go inside.