- Feb 24, 2012
- 58
- 1
- 43
I live in Southern Maryland, with my 3 hens (getting 2-3 more soon) where we get a wide range of weather. For example it was 70degrees here yesterday and 25 today, but lower if you factor wind chill! i am thinking of building a hoop coop very similar to https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/dutch-hollow-hoop-coop. I'm sure that it will be nice and open and airy for them during our hot and often humid summer. I do worry a little about the winter months. The back end of the coop will be plywood and the top and sides tarp. Will this be enough for my girls? If not I was thinking of attaching a smallish coop to the back so that they could have a more sheltered roosting area at night for the winter. or possibly a 3 and a half sided box for them to roost in that would go inside the hoop coop? also thinking about somehow using old straw or hay bales in or outside of the coop to help insulate. Might this be necessary?
Part of the reason I am so worried about the winter is that I felt I had to bring the girls into the house a couple times this winter when it got down to single digits as their combs seemed to be getting frostbitten. Not bad frostbite, just a touch.
I want my girls to be as comfortable as possible, they are just as much pets as a source of yummy eggs.
I also worry about durability. I do figure on having to replace the tarp occasionally. I do want the coop to be portable and want to make it light enough that the hubby and i can move it during the spring, summer and fall. But we will probably lightly anchor it on those months as we can get some crazy wind and I dont want my girls going for a ride! In the winter I think we would try to do some more heavy duty anchoring. Especially for days like today when we have around 50 mph winds.
I also worry a little about snow building up and causing the coop to cave in. I have heard of the hoop coops made with PVC caving or coming apart. I have read that some that have similar coops to the dutch hollow reinforce the top of the arc so that it doesnt sag or cave. We are thinking of doing this, but not sure of adding weight. Sometimes we get heavy snow up to 18" or more, but more often than not we get 1-5" at a time. I suppose if we knew it was going to be a crazy heavy snow we could just move the coop into our indoor riding arena in our horse stable. That is where they spent a few days this winter anyway.
Also the hoop coop pictured is covered in what looks like chicken wire over the cattle panels, under the tarp. I am thinking that in terms of predator prevention that maybe I should use hardware cloth at least partway up on the sides instead of chicken wire? Thinking weight and cost here. If I had unlimited resources I would hardware cloth the whole thing, but that gets expensive. So far we have been lucky (knock on wood!) with no predators getting in our current coop which has hardware cloth on the windows and along the run about 2' up with a 8 inch or so skirt, which was supposed to be anchored into the ground, but has gotten so crumpled up that it is not useful anymore. The rest of the run which is attached to the coop with an open chicken door is just covered in chicken wire. I do attribute the lack of predators to our having dogs, who while they are not out all the time, esp in winter, they make their presence known and we rarely ever see a predator on the farm. If something wanted to get into our coop now they would have little resistance. which is part of the reason for a new coop. The other reason is that I want a couple more hens and our current coop would get cramped.
The main reasons we like the hoop coop is the low cost of constructing it, portability, and plenty of ventilation. If anyone has other suggestions for something else that might fit the bill suggest away. We will he housing my current 3 hens, plus 2-4 more, and maybe some guinea keets someday.
I guess I am using this more as a sounding board. Any advice is appreciated, especially from anyone who has used this type of coop before!
Part of the reason I am so worried about the winter is that I felt I had to bring the girls into the house a couple times this winter when it got down to single digits as their combs seemed to be getting frostbitten. Not bad frostbite, just a touch.
I want my girls to be as comfortable as possible, they are just as much pets as a source of yummy eggs.
I also worry about durability. I do figure on having to replace the tarp occasionally. I do want the coop to be portable and want to make it light enough that the hubby and i can move it during the spring, summer and fall. But we will probably lightly anchor it on those months as we can get some crazy wind and I dont want my girls going for a ride! In the winter I think we would try to do some more heavy duty anchoring. Especially for days like today when we have around 50 mph winds.
I also worry a little about snow building up and causing the coop to cave in. I have heard of the hoop coops made with PVC caving or coming apart. I have read that some that have similar coops to the dutch hollow reinforce the top of the arc so that it doesnt sag or cave. We are thinking of doing this, but not sure of adding weight. Sometimes we get heavy snow up to 18" or more, but more often than not we get 1-5" at a time. I suppose if we knew it was going to be a crazy heavy snow we could just move the coop into our indoor riding arena in our horse stable. That is where they spent a few days this winter anyway.
Also the hoop coop pictured is covered in what looks like chicken wire over the cattle panels, under the tarp. I am thinking that in terms of predator prevention that maybe I should use hardware cloth at least partway up on the sides instead of chicken wire? Thinking weight and cost here. If I had unlimited resources I would hardware cloth the whole thing, but that gets expensive. So far we have been lucky (knock on wood!) with no predators getting in our current coop which has hardware cloth on the windows and along the run about 2' up with a 8 inch or so skirt, which was supposed to be anchored into the ground, but has gotten so crumpled up that it is not useful anymore. The rest of the run which is attached to the coop with an open chicken door is just covered in chicken wire. I do attribute the lack of predators to our having dogs, who while they are not out all the time, esp in winter, they make their presence known and we rarely ever see a predator on the farm. If something wanted to get into our coop now they would have little resistance. which is part of the reason for a new coop. The other reason is that I want a couple more hens and our current coop would get cramped.
The main reasons we like the hoop coop is the low cost of constructing it, portability, and plenty of ventilation. If anyone has other suggestions for something else that might fit the bill suggest away. We will he housing my current 3 hens, plus 2-4 more, and maybe some guinea keets someday.
I guess I am using this more as a sounding board. Any advice is appreciated, especially from anyone who has used this type of coop before!
