Need to anchor down hoop coop

[Primo]

Forgot to add you can get a bottle of mapp gas for your torch (sold right next to the propane bottles) for about 12 bucks. Burns nearly as hot as acetylene. (yeah I know not quite).

 

[SunnySkies]

Well. I do not weld. Nor do I know anyone who does.

My birds DO free range year around (I even raise my meat birds free ranging) and I have LGDs to keep them safe from predators (and birds don't respect a 3 wire electric fence, FYI, but they tend to stay at home), but I move the coop as part of a nutrient management plan for my pastures. Where this coop went this summer -- I raise meat birds in it during the summer -- the grass is amazing, even in the winter. I don't like the buildup of stool, so I move it, the stools are broken down, and the grass comes back fast and thick. I'm very happy with my system and I hate my stationary coops. The ground around them is scratched bare, there are loads of feathers and wood chips around them that I'm always cleaning up, and I don't like the appearance. I DLM the stationary coops, so at least I get compost out of them, but I really wish I had a dozen of these hoop coops marching across my pastures. I'd never need to buy fertilizer!

However, what we came up with works. I was awakened by our NOAA radio going crazy last night, and we had a terrible storm come through. It blew over a very large and very metal gazebo (i had taken the cover off, but the frame still was thrown around), picked up and threw a huge empty water trough, and threw around a half full compost bin...but the coop in question did not move. The stationary coop that was tipped in the same storm that threw the hoop coop around was also fine.

So, unless we have a tornado or hurricane, we just might be OK. Thanks for the ideas though.

 

[jaj121159]

I run hoop coops all summer in Nebraska and use them some in the winter as well, but don't usually move them. I've learned a few things about battling wind, since Nebraska is a prairarie state it one of the windiest states in the country. If the wind can go inside the cattle panel hoop coop, it can catch a closed end then move. So I try to keep the closed end facing into the prevailing wind direction (south in the summer & north in the winter). I also have corner braces in my hoop coops. In really windy weather, I'll put sand bags on the corner braces. These sandbags are like the ones sold for putting in the bed of a pick-up during the winter. You can still move the coop with those in place, but it much easier to remove the bags before moving. If the hoop coop is going to stay in one place during the winter, I would use the screw in the ground anchors, but if moving the coops regularly I would recommend sand bags. You can see the corner braces I am referring to in this picture.

This is a summer shot, so my hoop coop is facing north so the wind can't go through the coop and grab the tarp in back to lift it.

 

[SunnySkies]

What we have done has worked very well. We have had some very severe weather come through, and the coop has been fine. I need the pickup truck to move it now though...but the wind can't!