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

[LeslieDJoyce]

Hi friends!!!

 

[perchie.girl]

Hi friends!!!

Miss ya...

 

[bigmrg74]

If you make a cattle panel hoop coop similar to this...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/permanent-hoop-coop-guide

You should have no snow load issues, especially if you brush it off with a shop broom on the rare heavy snow days...

I keep thinking about doing a hoop coop for some meat birds this summer. The only thing is that I would kinda like to have it fairly tall as I'm 6'4" and I'm not a big fan of clunking my head on stuff.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
build it on a riser... a knee wall of sorts. enough to keep from bumping your head

deb

 

[bigmrg74]

build it on a riser... a knee wall of sorts. enough to keep from bumping your head

deb

Yeah, I thought about that. Just trying to figure out the dimensions of the hoops. Like if I make the base of the hoops 10 feet wide how tall would the hoops be versus if I made the base 8 feet wide.

 

[aart]

Quote: Take a piece of clothesline 16 feet long for the panel and a tape measure for the base and lay it out on the ground.
Use another tape measure to check height.

 

[Rickovo]

This was one of my better ideas. Wanted to slowly drop mealworms in the coop to mimic the wild (bugs falling from trees and the like) to keep my hens from getting in a rut during the day.
The short length of pipe is glued to the ring of the timer and rolls 360 deg in 24 hours. A simple helix of glue (hot melt bead) keeps the contents moving forwards. Empties half a tube load in about 3 days.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Here is a simple way. Set four tposts in the ground Not deep enough you cant get them out. then take a cattle panel and fit it in between. Measure the height... you can ball park the optimum width from there. I personally like perfect increments for wood or steel construction

If the Tposts are in the right spot drive em in then raise the cattle panel up till you like the height and affix the bottom to the Tpost. Fill in the base with wood or wire.....

deb

 

[bruceha2000]

This was one of my better ideas. Wanted to slowly drop mealworms in the coop to mimic the wild (bugs falling from trees and the like) to keep my hens from getting in a rut during the day.
The short length of pipe is glued to the ring of the timer and rolls 360 deg in 24 hours. A simple helix of glue (hot melt bead) keeps the contents moving forwards. Empties half a tube load in about 3 days.

Clever!

Yeah, I thought about that. Just trying to figure out the dimensions of the hoops. Like if I make the base of the hoops 10 feet wide how tall would the hoops be versus if I made the base 8 feet wide.

Not very (as far as YOU are concerned) in either case

This is what you need: http://onlineconversion.vbulletin.n...lculate/14787-calculate-the-height-of-an-arch

The apex of the arch would be the height: h=(L-d*pi/2)/2 plus the half the diameter.

L is the constant 16' of the panel
d is the width at the base

for 10' base:
h=(16-10*3.14/2)/2 + 5 = 5' 3"+

for an 8' base:
h=(16-8*3.14/2)/2 + 4 = 5' 8"+

I made a arched support for my beans and cukes with a 16' piece of 2x4 wire fencing with the T posts 4' apart. The height was 6.85' by this calculation and I would say that seems about right, I am 6'1" (was 6'2", got older).

Considering that you live in MI, you will have snow load to contend with so don't go too wide. But as Deb said, a short knee wall of only 12" would give your 8' base a height of 6' 8". It will curve down fairly fast though so you won't be moving to the side of center much before you have to start ducking. The 10' base would need an 18" knee wall to get a height of nearly 7' and it wouldn't lose height quite so fast as the 8' base. You might consider building the coop with "stick framed" ends (need something there for the door anyway) with a ridge pole running at the apex and possibly again a couple of feet on either side to help support the wider, therefore somewhat flatter, "roof" when there is snow on it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

For measuring our hoop coop height we just set the first edge where we wanted it, then had Dad stand there (he is tallest) while we bowed the panel up. When it cleared his hat, that's where we marked the second edge.