hoop house using electrical conduit?

[TheMatador]

Great stuff everyone. Thanks for all the great replies.

This has already been covered, but just to clarify, I am interested in metal conduit, not PVC. The primary quality I need in a material is that it can be erected and left in the sunshine and freezing temps year round, which PVC cannot do (apparently it will become brittle and degrade rather quickly).

 

[omelay]

i have a three year old chicken tractor of the EMT persuasion that has been in the sun, heat, freezing cold, snow loads, big dogs and kids climbing on it you name it it still is in fine shape. i expect it to last for ten more years. the weakest link being the chicken wire. that will be first thing to go. even the gray schedule 80 pvc won't hold up half as long.

if i wanted a hoop style taller version in i'd integrate a cattle panel as the arch kinda like my green house. http://omelays.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-build-cheap-greenhouse.html

i might build a chicken tractor integrating both materials and principles as a hen house in the future. not this year though..

 

[Poultra]

Quote:
Your kidding right???? My waterer's are metal, my feeders are metal, my wire is metal..... That's a new one to me.

No, not kidding. Cornell's Ornithology Lab mentions it on their website - not a big mention but someone saw it happen and reported it to them. If your accessories are bare metal and you haven't had a problem, good for you, I hope you never do. I'm just throwing it out there so people are aware that it could potentially be a problem.

Katie

 

[omelay]

i don't know how i'd keep my chickens safe from predators if i didn't use metal wire fencing. i guess i could use that pvc coated stuff but i try not to use pvc when ever i get the chance not to.

omelays.blogspot.com

 

[jamespm_98]

Here is a picture of my PVC chicken tractor I use in my garden to prepare rows for planting. I usually run a couple of birds in it and move it every few days. It is 3' X 6' and is covered with PVC roofing panels. Since this picture I covered the top of the front section so the birds would have somemore shade. The white PVC stays cool. In the winter I move them to a regular coop for warmth, but this is great in the spring and fall for cleaning out the garden beds and preparing the ground for planting. It is heavy enough to stay put in wind, but light enough for one person to move easily. If more weight is needed you can always put some sand in the PVC pipe used for the base. The base is 1 1/2" and the hoops are 1/2" PVC.

I used regular PVC, but Electrical PVC conduit would probably last longer.