Cheep Cheap Hoop House

[anorwood]

This is my first chicken experience so I wanted to try meat birds for an 8 week trial without putting alot of overhead into the project. Luckily my neighbor loaned me heat lamps, waterers, etc which was huge. The chicks are currently in the garage in a pen made from scavenged pallets lined with a tarp, with a feeder made from a 5' piece of PVC.


I want to put them out on grass at 3-4 weeks old. We'll have an area protected by electric net which I hope will take care of the predators. I just wanted to make an inexpensive temporary shelter for them to get out of the rain/ night/ sun so I made this hoop house out of 2 x 4's, some old small gauge cattle fencing (5x10') and a tarp. Very light to move around. I placed the cross braces flat and raised so it doesn't catch on the grass. The food and water will be outside the hoop. If the weather's bad I'll lean some pallets up against the openings.






Hope this works.

 

[mnferalkitty]

I like this

 

[beaglady]

We've used this design for quite a few years. Some of the tweaks we've added are to

1) add 2x4 bracing across the back, fastened with fence staples

2) add a door of 2x2's and hardware cloth at the front

3) cover the outside with chicken wire to keep out predators

4) add triangular plywood braces horizontally between the side and end rails. These also help keep birds from getting hurt by being caught in the corners as you move the pens.

 

[hvacman]

Looks like that would make a nice tractor for the flock!

 

[Life is Good!]

As you mention this will be inside an electric fence, this looks like a good shelter.

I like the idea of a pallet across the back - it'll give the chicks a sense of security of something solid to back up into/against. It'll also stop some of the 'wind tunnel' effect that could happen through this.

Depending on where you are (weather wise), you could also add a simple 2x4 about 12" off the ground as a roosting bar (use a 6" piece on each end as a riser, attached to the base material using a mending plate from home store). Our CX and especially our FR's enjoy a bit of a roost to be up off the ground. The FR used it until their last day - the CX used a roost until they were about 7wks old. Especially if you have any dampness to your spring ground (i.e. rain). I think it helped the CX avoid some of the blistering I've heard other folks talk about. Ours never had that problem. The FR's were funny - how many big chickens fit on a 2x4? One more than you think aught to be able to!

 

[anorwood]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think they would like a roosting bar. I had read that the "monster crosses" didn't roost, but the chicks are enjoying a branch in the brooder. In retrospect I wish I'd had 12' 2 x 4's for the rails, then I could have used 2 side by side wire panels for a 10' long shelter which would have accommodated everyone without all that much added weight. I'll probably need to build a 2nd shelter, but my car would only fit the 8' length. Oh well.