My Cattle Panel Hoop House

[Mossy Dell]

I will post some photos and then give a full narrative.
Here is the basic 2x4 base frame and some 2x2 end bracing; the door frame is started and the so is the rear upright but not the angle braces yet.

Used 2x4 welded wire for the ends and wrapped the 2x4 stubs around the cattle panel panel end rods.

The picture below shows the end framing

Below is the framed and wired hoop house beside an old 4x6x4 dome pen I built. The dolly can be used to slip under one of the house's end cross pieces and drag it to a new spot of grass daily. The 2x2 low center board in the middle helps the diagonal cross bracing and serves as a training roost.

Below shows how I can pull the pen using length of 12.5 gauge brace wire and a piece of hose for comfort. I later added axle bolts front and rear—a couple of lawn mower wheels slipped on make daily moves a breeze compared to dragging the end.

The wheels are shown below. I added screen door handles to the skids front and rear so I can lift one corner and slide on a wheel. Wheels can and may be added permanently, though it means I will have to keep more wood scraps for blocking around. A 1–1.5" gap at the bottom at all times makes the pen less predator proof, especially in places where a dip increases that gap. This year, using just blocker boards as needed and no wheels, there was only one predator attempt, a skunk, that gave up.

Below, side view showing completed framing and wiring.

Finally, below is the finished pen with a temporary tarp roof.

Rolling around the yard—

 

[Mossy Dell]

In July 2019 I built an 8x8 hoop house and the base for a second one. I used the apparent cattle-panel hoophouse inventor, Robert Palmondon’s plans from his web site—

http://www.plamondon.com/wp/better-chicken-tractors-hoophouse-chicken-coops/

—and also looked at others’ iterations. Above shows the finished house and the framed-in house and dolly to move it beside one of my 4x6 dome pens. I learned a few things from using the hoop house this summer for raising some ducks. But I can tell it will make a great portable pen for raising poultry. Also handy for a brood pen. The two cattle panels make a strong frame for the top and sides and really cut down on framing. For the back and front, there’s some 2x2 bracing with 2x4 welded wire over it. On the back and front, the wire is tied into the cattle panels, welded-wire stubs wrapped around the end rods of the panels, which really helps rigidity. That’s just like what’s commonly done when building a small dome pen. I ran chicken wire up a few feet.

What I learned is that my old dolly is not quite sufficient to move it easily, by lifting one end, without any wheels on the pen on rough hilly ground. The cross pieces of the end opposite the dolly dig in. It was often very hard to pull it. Especially uphill! One thing I could have done is shaved an inch off the bottom frame’s cross pieces so they ride just above the ground. Plamondon’s and other plans show that. Of course that leaves a gap. But as it is, I keep some scrap boards around to fill in dips. I have had no predators try yet. In Florida, where I am from, the coons will dig. They don’t here in our hard soil. The only attempt this summer was a skunk that tried to peel off chicken wire from the 2x4 wire but gave up.

Anyway, what I did to make it easier to move was add some bolts at front and rear to serve as axles for two lawnmower wheels. I just lift the pen corners and put two on one end and use a 2.5 gauge wire loop on the other to pull the pen to fresh grass. I have made rolling pens in the past where the wheels were bolted on but had to do more blocking of gaps. I move a pen daily, so that gets a bit old—the wheels being all ready to go is nice. But with two wheels on, usually I can pull it easily using a piece of 12.5 gauge brace wire I attached at front and rear for pulls. I cut a piece of garden hose for a handle over the wire. Sometimes I use the dolly instead. My final solution to aid moving is not done; each way has its tradeoffs. But, remember, usually I am only moving it one pen length a day; most anything is tolerable.

Notice that I used diagonal bracing on the corners. There is also a 2x2 across the middle that’s a training roost and extra bracing. I should have made the pen exactly 8’ across because I had to rip a 10’ 2x4 to get that board just over 8’ long. I am going to add some 2x2s up high for older and adult fowl. I will use a 2x2 across the pen above the low 2x2 but also a 2x2 off it in a large T going to the back of the pen. That should allow me to still walk inside to give feed and water but give enough roost space for quite a few young fowl.

I used a cheap tarp for a roof this season. But I got a roll of shingle underlayment and some shade cloth to go over that for its next roof.

What I like about this pen at my age is the ease of walking inside to feed and water or to catch birds off the roost at night. It also does not blow much—it’s very stable compared with a small dome pen. The open ends are north and south, and that keeps the sun from harming the birds and also seems to let the wind go through. I don’t kid myself—it could blow over. But it just went through 40 mph winds with no problem. Like a dome pen, it can be staked. I have some eye hooks to add for that and some rebar I can pound in. That’s some bother. But a bit of labor here and there is a small price for a fairly economical pen that’s flexible and keeps poultry on grass.

I plan to add nest boxes, probably 5 gallon buckets, on top of the cross braces in each corner. That will help when I use it as a laying house or brood pen.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

It’s GREAT.. we too, have three ‘tractors’ and love them! We don’t use them for our chickens anymore since making our new ‘play area’ but now we use them for our 32 rabbits..so they always come in handy...great job!

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have a tractor we use for the silkie during the day we have three outside cats that would eat them the guy that built it was a electrician all out conduit added hardware cloth around the bottom and removable metal roof panels to shield from the rain but they have a coop for night time

 

[Mossy Dell]

That's a nice tractor, Penny! I guess I consider my small dome pen a "tractor." But my hoop house is more a semi-tractor-trailer!

 

[aart]

But my hoop house is more a semi-tractor-trailer!

Fatter larger diameter tires might help.
Centering them lightens the load.

I made a foldable anti-dig apron, but it's a bit tedious to move.
I sold this coop to a turkey grower, it didn't fare too well in a rough pasture and the owners weren't too keen on 'tedious'.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-hoop-coop-chicken-tractor.72211/

 

[Mossy Dell]

aart, are you saying put the wheels in the middle of the pen, even if they are temporary wheels just for moves?

 

[aart]

aart, are you saying put the wheels in the middle of the pen, even if they are temporary wheels just for moves?

Yep, lessens the load significantly because you're balancing the weight.

 

[Mossy Dell]

Fatter larger diameter tires might help.
Centering them lightens the load.

I made a foldable anti-dig apron, but it's a bit tedious to move.
I sold this coop to a turkey grower, it didn't fare too well in a rough pasture and the owners weren't too keen on 'tedious'.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-hoop-coop-chicken-tractor.72211/

I love your article, Aart. Wish I'd found it when planning mine! Ours are very similar except yours is better built and engineered. I envy your skills.

I note you ran your panels to the inside of your boards, which I like because the boards then absorb the outward pressure of the wire. I thought about that, and had made a couple of small dome pens and considered it for them too, and can't remember why I decided to go on the outside.

Love, love, love your wheel mechanism! I think that is within my limited mechanical and carpentry skills.

If I understand your pulling mechanism, the 2x2 bar, however, it looks harder on the body than mine. The stiff, strong 12.5 gauge brace wire allows you to stand six feet from the pen and pull. To keep it out of the way when not in use, and what set its length, I have hooks in front and rear headers. The hooks are sized to accept the hose handle. On the front, I have a couple screws sticking out slightly below that to hold the wire so it doesn't interfere with opening the door.

But maybe with the wheel in the middle, being able to keep the pen level is crucial? With the wire pull, it lifts the front of the pen and of course that would cause the rear to lower. I have tires back there, so no biggie, probably makes the move work better. With middle wheels, you might just pop a wheelie and dig in the rear.

Finally, I like your apron but think it is beyond my abilities. In using my previous rolling pens for many years, I never had a predator dig in—I think the moving structure worries them. I had three small wheels on each side of those three 6x8 square pens. The wheels were permanent so there was a 1.5" gap, which I generally plugged with scrap boards.

I do NOT guarantee anyone would not have digging. I just didn't, and a lot of people who raise Salatin style broilers in the low 10x12 pens haven't either. I think some have. I did have a skunk scoot under through a gap in the board once, but the birds stayed up on the roosts and I lost none; I think the skunk was looking for eggs.

My brother in Florida swears his coons would dig in without an apron. He is on sand, and that may be a difference. I think the nature of the sward and terrain are also factors.

 

[aart]

If I understand your pulling mechanism, the 2x2 bar, however, it looks harder on the body than mine. The stiff, strong 12.5 gauge brace wire allows you to stand six feet from the pen and pull.

With the center wheels the handle allows better control of balance, to avoid the back or front from digging in. We actually lowered the height of handle('field design') for the shorter than me owners to have better control, it made a huge difference in the amount of effort to balance and move the weight of coop.
I actually came up with a different handle that is much stiffer than the 2x2's,
similar to this but attaches to front of framing outside of mesh.

The apron is 'clever', but really didn't pan out, tho it was only tested in that one environment. Just like the first wheels I used, worked great on the gravel driveway and my yard, but not in their rough field.