DIY Thread - Let's see your "Inventions".

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Or You could use one cattle panel cut it in half for the two sides of the run then you would only need to build the ends out. One end for a door the other end for a coop. Those cattle panels are pretty predator proof for the big predators like dogs. Then cover the outside with small predator wire....

deb

 

[yogifink]

Quote: Or You could use one cattle panel cut it in half for the two sides of the run then you would only need to build the ends out. One end for a door the other end for a coop. Those cattle panels are pretty predator proof for the big predators like dogs. Then cover the outside with small predator wire....

deb

I woult not use cattle/combo panels on an A-frame. Kind of a waste of money if you ask me. You can get some 12ga 2x4 inch welded wire for much less and it will do the job just fine.

 

[SavannahsBrood]

The wire I used was 2x4 welded wire from HD 50' for 38.00 Decided to use that rather than hardware cloth because the hens will be shut up at night. Only using the wire to keep them in during the daytime. This was just so I could get my wife use to the idea of having chickens (she's a city girl). Once she starts seeing the eggs coming then I'm upgrading to a larger one. Haven't decided how large yet. (8x8 or 10x12 coop) then maybe raising some chicks also.

 

[yogifink]

The wire I used was 2x4 welded wire from HD 50' for 38.00 Decided to use that rather than hardware cloth because the hens will be shut up at night. Only using the wire to keep them in during the daytime. This was just so I could get my wife use to the idea of having chickens (she's a city girl). Once she starts seeing the eggs coming then I'm upgrading to a larger one. Haven't decided how large yet. (8x8 or 10x12 coop) then maybe raising some chicks also. 

You could add a single row of hardware cloth along the bottom, thats what we did for ours. Used about 24" of cloth around the base to help keep out any day light preditors and so we could use it with our chicks and keep them from slipping through the holes.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I woult not use cattle/combo panels on an A-frame. Kind of a waste of money if you ask me. You can get some 12ga 2x4 inch welded wire for much less and it will do the job just fine.
It really depends.... honestly. Here I couldnt build with cattle panels because they arent common. Running almost fifty bucks a piece. But I have seen them go for around 25 at Tractor supply.... closest one to me is in Bakersfield which is a four hour drive. They may even be cheaper in an area that has a lot of livestock I dont know.

Twelve gauge is a little over .08 thick and has to be supported. So its a trade off time versus materials. I have seen a dog chew through chainlink... But that was a reallly determined dog.

The hardest part about using a cattle panel is splitting it in half.... you need a grinder to do that..... After that its just hog clips to fasten the panels together at the top for your A frame.....

Either way you will still need to put hardware cloth up to protect the chickens.
deb

 

[perchie.girl]

The wire I used was 2x4 welded wire from HD 50' for 38.00 Decided to use that rather than hardware cloth because the hens will be shut up at night. Only using the wire to keep them in during the daytime. This was just so I could get my wife use to the idea of having chickens (she's a city girl). Once she starts seeing the eggs coming then I'm upgrading to a larger one. Haven't decided how large yet. (8x8 or 10x12 coop) then maybe raising some chicks also.

LOL.... figure out your size then double it.... I started out with four chickens..... ended up with about sixty chickens and guineas... My coop went from six by six to sixteen by twelve in two years. Now I am planning on 24 x 24 This includes a feed storage space work space and seven partitions. .... One beefed up partition for goats.

My one saving grace is I use dog kennel panels bought one at a time over the years. I now have three hundred linear feet of them.... But those frames are wonderful. They can be broken down in a manner of minutes and reconfigured with only hand tools.

If you are planning on more than four chickens building a structure you can walk into will be very helpful for maintenence.... I cant kneel I work from a rolling walker.... I will be in a wheel chair eventually....

The link on my drawings for my coop is in my signature..... along with some handsketches.

deb

 

[malndobe]

I woult not use cattle/combo panels on an A-frame. Kind of a waste of money if you ask me. You can get some 12ga 2x4 inch welded wire for much less and it will do the job just fine.

I've had dogs tear holes in the welded wire fencing. They didn't tear the wire, they broke the welds. Were able to break enough of them to make a hole they could get through.

I still use it, in part because the price is right, but it's backed up by electric fencing.

 

[loveourbirds]

Quote: the 2x4 wire is easily torn through as you have mentioned. typically if you line it with poultry netting dogs will give up before they get though. the only "dog proof" wire i have found is 1 inch by 1 inch 16 gauge wire. but for it to work it has to be fastened well, they will still tear it down in sheets. its also expensive, the best price i found was $170.00 for a 100 foot long roll of 36 inch wire.

if your are in an area where there are weasels and mink, they can easily get into the 2x4 wire. a crafty coon can get through in a matter of minutes.

i myself still use it, but only inside my barn. where there isnt any dogs, or coon LOL.

 

[ozexpat]

To stop dogs and rats I have a cinder block foundation then 18 inches of plain GI sheet. Then I use polyethyline chicken "wire" above the GI sheet and over the top to stop cats. We dont have mink, weasel, coons, bob cats, skunks, cougars, coyotes, wolves, foxes or dingoes.

 

[Leahs Mom]

That is very nice looking. Wish I didn't have to worry about that list of preds you wrote!