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

[Beekissed]

I tried a hoop coop, and over night the snow crushed it. (Thank goodness no chickens were in it!) So I have to have a steep not round coop. I make hoop coops for the summer then just take the tarps off in the winter so they don't get destroyed, I have to have 2 different types of coops, winter coops then I have Spring, Summer coops.

Could you show us a pic? I'm thinking we are talking about two different things here, as a hoop coop is pretty strong under a snow load because of it's arched design and even that can be reinforced with a wooden framework if you get more than 2 panels in your design. Usually two panels are fine on their own, but adding a third panel seems to make a hoop coop a little more vulnerable. As Bruce said, it also depends on the degree of arch you are using as well.

Mine bears a couple of feet or more of wet snow without any problems whatsoever and even more so now that I've added a support beam under the arch the whole length of the three panels. I've had over 2 ft. of snow on this and it didn't even move the arch at all...and it's super easy to get the snow off by flexing the panels from inside and the snow just slides off the sides.

 

[daxigait]

I use Cattle Panels.
I live in Virginia, so we have cold winters, I face my coops South because of the wind. They have plenty of ventilation, I normally do a wood frame, with a panel bent over top covered in a tarp. I also give them a little yard all year that they can go out in rain or snow if they want too. January-March are the worst months here, I usually lock my chickens up in really bad weather.
I would like to build a chicken coop, made out of cattle panels, with a tarp over it that would survive the snow, I figured I'll have to have a pointed roof not just a flat one, but I don't know if the panels will hold up to snow? I'm going to put tee-posts around it and tie the coop to them, so the wind won't move it. Any ideas of how to make it hold up to the snow? I'm just afraid it will collapse.

you might try arching the panels with tee posts on the sides to hold the arch and tarp or canvas over it if you don't get a lot of snow. I have seen storage that way.

 

[perchie.girl]

For what its worth... if the structure can handle the weight snow built up acts as an insulator.

Evenly distributed snow over a parabolic arch lends strength to the strucutre I emphasis EVENLY. the other thing is that base has to be Fixed with either Tposts as @daxigait suggested or internally with a very roebust frame.

If the base fails the structure will fail.

Bees Coop is awesome. The one from the @chookaholic link is awesome as well and a while a bit over engineered but I tend to over engineer stuff so I can identify.

The only thing in the construction I would change was the use of OSB... a prejudice on my part. But use what you got.... can afford. But if you use OSB... Paint the heck out of it.

deb

 

[Cluckies]

Aaaahhhh, cattle panels, you may want to talk to @Blooie she lives in Colorado, I wonder if she has had any issues due to snow? here is a link to her coop page. Blooie's coop page

 

[Cluckies]

Quote: This is great! Do you have a photo or two of the inside?

 

[Beekissed]

Aaaahhhh, cattle panels, you may want to talk to @Blooie she lives in Colorado, I wonder if she has had any issues due to snow? here is a link to her coop page. Blooie's coop page

Blooie lives in WY.

 

[Beekissed]

This is great! Do you have a photo or two of the inside?

Sure do. This entire 10x12 coop cost around $300 to make, as most of the wood was scrap~free!~and was just pieced in like a puzzle, all different kinds and types of wood, different thicknesses and lengths.

This is the front inside, with the winter tarp on...it's a clear tarp to let in the sun. All the openings you see are left open all winter long.



I added this center beam under the roof when I added my third hoop, to reinforce the arch in case of deep snows.



This is the back of the coop, added on to the original 2 panel design to give me more space. I left the old framework in place that I had in the 2 panel coop and it helps support some of the roosts. It has two large windows on either side that can be opened fully and a window at the back behind the roosts that can also be opened to let in more air. The tarps for the roof are lifted up on both sides during warmer months and a shade tarp applied over the clear tarp which leaves the coop very cool and breezy.




There's a pop door under the roosts and one on the front door, both are used in warmer months but usually only one is open all the time during the winter.

The little barn style windows on either side of the front door can be flipped down for more airflow but the top portions of those windows are never closed, be it subzero or mid summer. That's a piece of 550 cord holding that window at level while open. I like using things I have on hand to build things on the cheap.




The dog's house is built onto the back of the coop, made out of pallets stuffed with hay and scrap lumber, it's incredibly snug and he can hear whatever is going on in the coop, plus the back pop door opens up right next to the entrance to his house, so nothing gets past him.



He cuts trail for the chickens, as his water bucket is at the front of the coop and his feeding station is down at the shed, so he usually has a good path built before the chickens ever venture out in the snow.



This has turned out to be my most favorite of all the coops I've ever had, even though it's a mish mash of materials and doesn't look like anything special to other folks...it's sunny, airy, cozy and efficient at keeping the birds warm and also for keeping the DL working, making me finished compost at a pretty quick rate for such a small coop and for a free ranged flock. Best of all? It was cheap and fun to build and I keep tweaking as I go along, so it's very adaptable.

 

[Cluckies]

Quote: Now why on earth did I say she lived in Colorado? I knew that! lol

Thanks for the photos, and description, that is great!

 

[mom of silkies]

Could you show us a pic? I'm thinking we are talking about two different things here, as a hoop coop is pretty strong under a snow load because of it's arched design and even that can be reinforced with a wooden framework if you get more than 2 panels in your design. Usually two panels are fine on their own, but adding a third panel seems to make a hoop coop a little more vulnerable. As Bruce said, it also depends on the degree of arch you are using as well.

Mine bears a couple of feet or more of wet snow without any problems whatsoever and even more so now that I've added a support beam under the arch the whole length of the three panels. I've had over 2 ft. of snow on this and it didn't even move the arch at all...and it's super easy to get the snow off by flexing the panels from inside and the snow just slides off the sides.

I will post pictures asap! My "hoop shelter" is more like a panel chicken tractor, (looks a whole lot different than yours!) Mine had no wood framing at all.

 

[bruceha2000]

I will post pictures asap! My "hoop shelter" is more like a panel chicken tractor, (looks a whole lot different than yours!) Mine had no wood framing at all.

That could be your problem. A triangle is the strongest shape (that is why geodesic domes work, they are a lot of connected triangles) but you have to keep them triangular

And the deeper the triangular tent shaped structure is from a 2D shape, the weaker the sides will be without reinforcing framing.

A flat cattle panel is happy to be that way and as you can see from the true hoop pictures, they will flex quite a bit under load but they WANT to be flat which is why they hold that hoop shape. When flexed they are a giant spring. There are people here who can tell you what happens when you bend them enough to get into the bed of a pickup for the trip home and they decide they would rather be flat.

I would toss the tractor format and go with a true hoop. Besides being inherently strong due to the panel WANTING to be flat, you have 100% usable space with the (near) vertical walls unlike the tight angles at ground level in a triangular tractor. You could put on lift up wheels if the ability to move it is desired.

If I did not have my old barn and converted horse stall coop, there are only two free standing designs I would consider. The hoop (relatively cheap without a lot of building skills needed) or a Woods coop like JackE has: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/445004/woods-style-house-in-the-winter