Hoop Houses -Plus and Minuses

[TNBEARCHICK]

I would have preferred that to this way, much less movement of the panels as one is driving~we had to ratchet strap these down to decrease that bounce...as it was, Mama was afraid her truck was going to get scratched, so I was lucky to even persuade her to haul them for me.

I used to be that way always worried about a scratch in my bed, now its a truck and it needs to keep up with me. Of course the older I get the easier it is to keep up with me.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

Quote: Our Lowes keeps cattle panels, they have them displayed in the parking lot near the commercial end of the building.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
they know their stuff here on how to load them.. I'm usually the one worrying that they will fall out of the truck on the way home (ours is a short bed truck.. grr)

Quote: Our Lowes keeps cattle panels, they have them displayed in the parking lot near the commercial end of the building.

yup.. ours does too.. I think even Home Depot around here has them.... but our TSC usually has them cheaper

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

Yes our TSC is cheaper.

 

[3 NH reds]

1. built our hoop house and we have chicks coming really soon. I got hay bails for the enclosure and plan to put a heat lamp over it with an open end so chicks can get away from the heat if it's too hot. what are people using to keep rain off of the lights and chicks?

 

[Beekissed]

1. built our hoop house and we have chicks coming really soon. I got hay bails for the enclosure and plan to put a heat lamp over it with an open end so chicks can get away from the heat if it's too hot. what are people using to keep rain off of the lights and chicks?

Usually the hoop houses are covered with a tarp of some kind.

 

[MontgomeryTX]

8x12 the coop is 4x8. I use a reflective padded insulation under the tarp this make them last a lot longer. Also make sure they are tight. It is just over 6' down the center.

 

[Beekissed]

Best small coop setup I've seen yet...very nice!

The tarps I put on three years ago have finally worn thin on the sides, though the top is still mighty fine due to the points you have stressed....tight tarp with an underlayer of doubled up 4 mil plastic to protect the tarp from the metal "spines" of the hoop.

I'm replacing my silver tarp with an opaque one, which will have an additional tarp on the roof part for shade in the summer but will remove the darker tarp in the winter time. I really needed more light and warmth from the sun this past winter inside the coop, so this heavier but more clear tarp ought to do it. It will make it sort of like a greenhouse in there and I intend to have a vertical pallet garden established and growing by then that I can place in the coop for winter time snacking if the snows should be on the ground for long and they cannot forage out on winter grasses and legumes.

 

[MontgomeryTX]

Winter for us is very mild. Summer hurts more. Where do you get opaque tarps?

 

[Beekissed]

Got mine on Amazon and it was a very reasonable price, comparable to other tarps in the stores of that size but much more durable and tough in construction. They are clear tarps with a white fiber woven/sealed into the clear, so very much light can come through. I'll get a pic of it when I get it on the coop and will provide a close up of the material.

Sort of looks like this one....







I also got a grommet kit so I can place the grommets anywhere I want to get this tarp down tight to the frame. I'm going to place a grommet every foot on the long sides.