Need ideas for a roof on home made kennel please!!!

[LunaticChick]

Any ideas are welcome. I live in town but I know there are possums here and my sister who lives in same neighborhood says there are raccoons. Hopefully I can be articulate enough to explain what I wanna do. So, at first I was going to buy a chain link dog kennel and attach 1/4 to 1/2 inch hardware cloth to the sides and the top. On the bottom I would lay 8 - 12 inches on ground and place paving stones on top. I have a ton and never did anything with them so I am thinking I can stack them 3 or 4 high all around bottom of kennel. But ... buying a kennel seems to be a waste of money and time if I'm just going to reinforce with hardware cloth. So now I want to buy 3/4 to 1 inch emt conduit and just make my own fence panels with it, hardware cloth and those metal ties. Still cover the top once they are in place. I just can't wrap my brain around what to do for a top that will keep them protected from rain, snow etc. They will get some free range but not all day. The coop will be inside the pen and it is 4 x 5 feet so I want the pen about 8' x 12' x 6' high. I am pretty good at rigging lol but just fair if I had to build anything. I did think maybe a round top hoop roof but ...... again ideas very welcome! and TY!

 

[jetdog]

A hoop run would be your easiest way, cattle panels with hardware cloth, you can put a sturdy tarp to keep the rain out and the snow should slide off fairly easy, it would give a lot of shade for the summer.

 

[Alabama Jack]

Don't forget that bigger is better and chicken math and all that. This is what we did. We used HW cloth on every side, including the top. Total cost was around $350 for the "pergola" style run, if I remember correctly. We plan to put corrugated plastic roofing on top at some point to keep it dry. Check out my coop build page for details, if you're interested: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/933725/das-h-hnerhaus/120

 

[LunaticChick]

I don't think I can build a pergola but I'll look into the hoop idea for sure. I did think about cattle panels but all I saw were some that were 4' x 8' I will check again. I know I want it about 6 - 6 1/2 feet tall. No desire to stoop when I'm in there lol but 8' seems a bit tall.
I actually saw a run on ebay where the guy used steel pipe and hardware cloth and it was a big dome, so I will try to use that as my inspiration. Thank again for the input!!

 

[LunaticChick]

I also agree they need room in the run. Initialy I ordered 1 lav orp, 1 white cochin and 3 assorted bantams but I ended up getting 2 EE pullets at my local feed store lol. So I am either going to put all together or I might but the 4 bigger in their own run with the 4 x 5 coop and make a smaller run with the bantams with a smaller coop. I don't want the little ones picked on, they are a silkie and I'm thinking 2 mille fleur d'uccles (waiting on them to grow a bit so I can see their combs) or buff brahma bantams. Hopefully all will be pullets!!!! The 5 are from MPC and although I ordered pullets I know there is a small chance they were sexed incorrectly.

 

[Clemsonchickfan]

I am converting an unused dog pen into my run. The pen already had a wire floor because the dog that used to stay in there was a digger. I'm going to build a roof system out of 2X6X12 treated lumber with 2X4 cross supports. I was fortunate and have a friend who builds docks and he had some metal roofing that had scratches in the pretty green finish that he couldn't use for his high end docks so he gave it to me to cover everything.

I've been thinking that I may add 4X4 posts in the corners because I'm not sure that these panels can handle the weight of the roof since they have curved (bent) corners. Even with the addition of the posts, the lumber shouldn't run more than $200.

I am wrapping the whole thing with chicken wire and am going to put a few courses of treated 1X6 at the base. The chicken wire is mostly to keep the tree rats out and the boards should keep the dogs out. I'll try to post pictures when I get it done in a few weeks of you want.

 

[LunaticChick]

Pics would be great but chicken wire for me is a waste of money and time since I read it isn't very predator proof. I'd rather spend a little more on hardware cloth and know my girls are safe. I'm very attached to the little fluffy butts already!! I'm going to work on my ideas this week and hopefully I can create them a mini fortress

 

[Clemsonchickfan]

I agree. I would never use chicken wire by itself, but in this case it's over the chain link dog pen. It's stronger than anything else I would use. I just wanted the chicken wire to keep the tree rats and other smaller critters out.

 

[PapaChaz]

do a search on here for cattle panel hoop coops. There are several of them. I built one myself recently, and I love the looks of it. I have landscape cloth to put over as a tarp, I just haven't managed to get it put on yet......

here's a couple of examples:
Blooie's coop page:

her's is about the easiest and most efficient way to do it, and it looks wonderful

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/motel-chix

chook-o-holic uses heavy timbers for his ground frame, very solid build

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270088/permanent-hoop-coop-in-progress-update-see-post-34

and mine. I used 2x12's, and mounted the cattle panels an inch from the top. I did this because I wanted it 10 ft wide, but still wanted over 6 ft high, which I did get! I also made my gate wide enough to allow me to get my yard cart in and out for taking in wood chips, straw, mulch, etc etc or cleaning out if I need to

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/955919/future-coop-and-run

 

[yellowchicks]

Here is my chicken run made with welded 3/4" galvanized steel tubing, 1/2" hardware cloth on all sides and the bottom, and clear corrugated polycarbonate panels on the top.

My run is 4'W x 6'L, with 6' high on the high side, 5' high on the low side. I wish the low side could be 6' high so we don't have to crouch inside the run, but we made it low deliberately to match our neighbor's fence high. The sloped roof is more effective with shedding snow, rain and leaves. The run is built predator proof so we can leave the coop door opene 24/7. You can scale up the design to the dimensions you want.

There are more pictures on the My Coop page.