New Half-hoop Coop Build

[Gail Laubenthal]

So what's the next 'skin'?

Will post name and pics soon

 

[aart]

Will post name and pics soon

So you don't know yet what you will use....or are you just teasing us

 

[Gail Laubenthal]

So you don't know yet what you will use....or are you just teasing us

We are using a 1" square green plastic to cover the the cattle panel and then heavy duty white tarp from mytarp.com on top of that. After reading the ventilation article we will design the tarp installation to be rolled up unless weather issues. The tarp will provide shade in our 100 degree summers. We are thinking the green plastic will be light weight...we are still considering using hardware cloth on the bottom 2 feet...we just have never had any predators except big chicken snakes. Thoughts

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Do you have raccoons around? That plastic seems flimsy.... It even say's temporary on the packaging.

Good luck

Gary

 

[aart]

I'd definitely go with 1/2" HC on bottom 2'.
Weight should be an issue if coop is stationary.

Hey I think you need to clear your editor of draft text??
I keep seeing that bottom text (under netting pic) in several of your posts?

 

[Gail Laubenthal]

Do you have raccoons around? That plastic seems flimsy.... It even say's temporary on the packaging.

Good luck

Gary

Thanks for your feedback. We will be using HC on the bottom 2'...no raccoons around and we have had chickens for 6 years...with our one acre 5' fence and a livestock guardian dog watching over things at night, we just have not had digging predator issues. We have hawks that fly overhead looking for a quick grab, but they have not taken a chicken for several years. I don't know what I would do without all of the advice and the pictures that the BYC community offers.

 

[Gail Laubenthal]

Half Hoop Coop Build Update: The outside is complete as of today and we just have the inside "furniture"...roosts, nesting boxes, feeders, waters, feed barrels, pop doors. As you can see with the attached pictures, we used pipe insulation on all edges so that the tarps would not rub on the wire. We did put HC 2' up from the bottom all around. We ordered the heavy duty waterproof tarps from mytarps.com (love them). Questions...just asked

 

[Gail Laubenthal]

47 young chickens are now in their new home, the half-hoop coop! It was an exciting day today, as we finished the roosts (with dropping boards), nesting boxes (only six for now and blocked off since these are only 3-4 months old), waterers, feeders, feed barrels, and one of the 2 pop doors. We clipped one wing to discourage flying over the 5' fence in the large free range area. There is no covered run, just the large coop and the very large fenced area for them to roam. These chickens had been kept in 3 different areas, so it was all about figuring out which one of the young roosters would be the king...didn't take long (the gigantic Marans has the honor of being king...for now). The 3 month old brooder babies huddled together for most of the time I was watching, but when I took a peek after dark almost all of them were lined up on the roost. Life is beautiful & happy on my little 2 acres

 

[Sara Ranch]

Thank you for sharing your pictures!

I shared your pictures with someone else so we could talk about how to adapt your idea to this environment. I have high winds, blowing rains, and predators that includes humans, as well as mice to bears, and coffee drinking raccoons! (That's a funny story.)

I adopt a lot of animals and have been very blessed that I haven't lost any animals to predators.

I smiled at the picture of the human with the chicken. I have a lawn chair that I move around (and various other places to sit) and I socialize with all of my animals during the day.

 

[Gail Laubenthal]

Thank you for sharing your pictures!

I shared your pictures with someone else so we could talk about how to adapt your idea to this environment. I have high winds, blowing rains, and predators that includes humans, as well as mice to bears, and coffee drinking raccoons! (That's a funny story.)

I adopt a lot of animals and have been very blessed that I haven't lost any animals to predators.

I smiled at the picture of the human with the chicken. I have a lawn chair that I move around (and various other places to sit) and I socialize with all of my animals during the day.

We do have very high winds here, too and this coop should be able to handle it. We are very fortunate to not have many predators...coyotes and hawks, but our Anatolian Shepard Dog (LGD) helps deter their presence, so far. We buried the HC wire below the base frame level, so if something does decide to get in, they won't be able to. Thanks for sharing our coop pics with others. We adapted ours from the many hoop coop posts here and on You Tube.