Open Air Coop In Central Mississippi

[JagZilla]

Things looked pretty good when I left the coop last night, and went to bed.

This morning was a completely different story. The storms were worse than the meteorologists predicted (imagine that, the weather girl on channel 12 missed the forecast).

One of the top rails on my dog kennel collapsed in the center, where I had a 2x4 acting as a temporary ridge board. I should have connected that top rail to the wooden cross beam on the front of the coop. After all, that's very reason I built that beam into the coop at that height. My reason for not attaching it was that this was just a mock-up trial run.

Rookie mistake, but, not an insurmountable setback. I'll simply buy a one-foot section of exhaust pipe, or electrical conduit of slightly larger diameter, to act as a sleeve over the damaged section, and make sure that I completely finish building the run, and have everything properly braced, and attached to the cross beam before I ever put the tarp on it, and send it through a storm.

We're under a tornado warning as I type this, with a confirmed funnel cloud spotted in a nearby community.

 

[aart]

They don't make chain link like they used to...or maybe that's just the dog kennel stuff.
Love that you were out in the coop during the rain......hope any twisters miss y'all.

 

[jthornton]

I'd bet the tarp got filled with water even with the slight ridge. Seen that happen way too many times and the last time was yesterday at my neighbors. The best way to avoid that is to have a "tent" pole in the middle with a large soft object on top and raise the tarp up a pretty good way.

JT

 

[aart]

I'd bet the tarp got filled with water even with the slight ridge.

Doesn't take much to get a 'pool' started...then it 'grows' quickly.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Tornados! So frightening. I'll take blizzards any day.

Best of luck!

 

[henless]

This is looking good! Building around the storms is a pain. I'm sure y'all are as sick of all the rain as we are. We've gotten around 6" this week alone.

 

[Sequel]

Really nice build! So much fun to watch your progress, and the videos were great too! Thanks for sharing!

 

[SilkieMitch]

This is awesome! I am going to use this design for my West Texas coop—simple yet perfect for hot weather.

 

[JagZilla]

This is awesome! I am going to use this design for my West Texas coop—simple yet perfect for hot weather.

I look forward to seeing it. Please do a post of your build and include pix. Mine has worked out really well. It has great airflow, and shelter from the hot Mississippi sun. I was having a problem with rains flooding it for a while. I thought that it might be coming in the large open areas, but, it was actually seeping in through the concrete floor. I didn't lay down a plastic ground barrier before I poured the cement, so there was nothing to stop the water from seeping in from the saturated ground. It didn't help that I had dug the site out to just below the surrounding ground level in places. I fixed this by digging under the coop on each side, and using a hydraulic bottle jack to raise it enough to place concrete blocks under each corner. It stays amazingly dry in there now.