This is my silkie pens. Made with dog kennel panels. 6'x10' or 6'x5'. All used in 10 foot lengths. I couldn't afford the set up now. With prices having gone up, it would run 3x what I paid. I'd looked it up recently out of curiosity. My large fowl have their own separate pen with a 8'x15' coop and 15'x35' run.
Back side. It gets greenhouse tarps in winter to keep warmth in and rain out. No tarps in this picture because it's nice weather. There is hardware cloth around the bottom 2 feet.
Front side. Pens open to a 50'x35' courtyard also made with the dog kennel panels. I keep this side tarped year round as they actually keep some of the heat out in summer as well as the worst winds. Plenty of light inside. I've planted some beds of plants along the fence since this picture. The girls love the plants.
Inside. Cattle panels attached to the kennel panels with heavy duty zip ties for a roof. Roof height was set so a 12' tarp goes over perfectly. 2 layers of tarp makes them last longer. Plastic hardware cloth 3' high between pens to prevent fence fighting. They ignore each other.
4x4s attached inside to help add extra support for snow load. They are attached better now instead of just tied to the posts. Plastic leaf rake works great for scraping the snow off. Don't ever want to leave snow. If it rains on snow the weight can collapse even normally strong things. This setup has had up to 4" overnight that I scraped off. Then shovel it out of way in courtyard. It would be stronger at 8' across instead of the 10' I have it. Most hoop houses are 8'.
The silkies have dog houses to sleep in. They only ever use them for sleeping and laying. I try to keep the pens at around 7 birds each. Population does swell during hatching season, but they have more courtyard time then.
Cup drinker on buckets for water most of the year. Rubber bowls in winter so I can stomp the ice out. Treadle feeders except when there are chicks. Then they get food bowls as well.
Back side. It gets greenhouse tarps in winter to keep warmth in and rain out. No tarps in this picture because it's nice weather. There is hardware cloth around the bottom 2 feet.
Front side. Pens open to a 50'x35' courtyard also made with the dog kennel panels. I keep this side tarped year round as they actually keep some of the heat out in summer as well as the worst winds. Plenty of light inside. I've planted some beds of plants along the fence since this picture. The girls love the plants.
Inside. Cattle panels attached to the kennel panels with heavy duty zip ties for a roof. Roof height was set so a 12' tarp goes over perfectly. 2 layers of tarp makes them last longer. Plastic hardware cloth 3' high between pens to prevent fence fighting. They ignore each other.
4x4s attached inside to help add extra support for snow load. They are attached better now instead of just tied to the posts. Plastic leaf rake works great for scraping the snow off. Don't ever want to leave snow. If it rains on snow the weight can collapse even normally strong things. This setup has had up to 4" overnight that I scraped off. Then shovel it out of way in courtyard. It would be stronger at 8' across instead of the 10' I have it. Most hoop houses are 8'.
The silkies have dog houses to sleep in. They only ever use them for sleeping and laying. I try to keep the pens at around 7 birds each. Population does swell during hatching season, but they have more courtyard time then.
Cup drinker on buckets for water most of the year. Rubber bowls in winter so I can stomp the ice out. Treadle feeders except when there are chicks. Then they get food bowls as well.
