Hardware Cloth.
The hoop coop build
- Thread starter mikeyv0295
- Start date
You want half inch hardware cloth. Walmart has 50 foot by 4 foot rolls, for about $61, with free in-store pickup when you order it online, or Amazon has about the same price, with free delivery.
That's within a few dollars of the cheapest I could find, $58 at AgriSupply, but you'd have to have one of their stores nearby, which most people probably don't.
Home Depot is selling a 25 foot roll for over $50, twice as much per foot, so shame on them. 25 feet is also a terrible length, you need 16 feet for every pass over the hoop, so 25 feet means you're going to have end laps, which you can avoid with the 50 foot roll.
The 50 foot roll is great because you get three a little over three 16 foot lengths, that fit perfectly over the hoop, with no end laps, just side laps.
That's within a few dollars of the cheapest I could find, $58 at AgriSupply, but you'd have to have one of their stores nearby, which most people probably don't.
Home Depot is selling a 25 foot roll for over $50, twice as much per foot, so shame on them. 25 feet is also a terrible length, you need 16 feet for every pass over the hoop, so 25 feet means you're going to have end laps, which you can avoid with the 50 foot roll.
The 50 foot roll is great because you get three a little over three 16 foot lengths, that fit perfectly over the hoop, with no end laps, just side laps.
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It's funny to read this thread, a possum or raccoon could chew through a tarp so fast it would make your head spin, if they ever got the idea there was a chicken dinner on the other side of it.
A cattle panel is a great substrate for other wire, but would offer as much resistance to a possum or coon, as an open door.
Don't kid yourself, your tarp covered hoop offers a one on a scale of ten, in predator proofing. Your chickens, your tarp, your risk. Haha step right up and spin the wheel of chance!
You may be fine for years, but you're definitely at the mercy of predators not discovering your Achilles Heel.
You might consider at least one lap of hardware cloth, going up four feet from the ground, on the perimeter of the coop, giving you a better chance of your little secret not being discovered by a predator.
That would also allow you to roll the tarp up a couple of feet, along the sides during the summer, for extra cooling and ventilation.
When you boil it down, predator proofing is simply trying to anticipate an attack, how it would come, what's the enemy bringing to the fight, and can we repulse the enemies best efforts. We each have to decide how bullet proof we want to be in an attack. That's the risk.
I assume a great deal of risk with my own flock, since I free range my birds, so my birds are completely vulnerable to an attack during the day, I could lose the whole flock in one fell swoop.
It's ironic I take this risk because I have a perfectly good tractor, that's completely predator proof. But seeing how enthusiasticly my birds push through the door every morning, how much they love the freedom to roam my yard, they've convinced me to take the risk on their behalf. Haha, it's so much like watching your teenager drive off in a car by themselves for the first time.
Scares and worries you, but you share in their joy of the freedom.
I think I'm invulnerable to a nighttime attack though, with the methods used in my tractor. Nighttime is the highest risk, with the birds being completely helpless, unable to aid at all in their own defense.
A cattle panel is a great substrate for other wire, but would offer as much resistance to a possum or coon, as an open door.
Don't kid yourself, your tarp covered hoop offers a one on a scale of ten, in predator proofing. Your chickens, your tarp, your risk. Haha step right up and spin the wheel of chance!
You may be fine for years, but you're definitely at the mercy of predators not discovering your Achilles Heel.
You might consider at least one lap of hardware cloth, going up four feet from the ground, on the perimeter of the coop, giving you a better chance of your little secret not being discovered by a predator.
That would also allow you to roll the tarp up a couple of feet, along the sides during the summer, for extra cooling and ventilation.
When you boil it down, predator proofing is simply trying to anticipate an attack, how it would come, what's the enemy bringing to the fight, and can we repulse the enemies best efforts. We each have to decide how bullet proof we want to be in an attack. That's the risk.
I assume a great deal of risk with my own flock, since I free range my birds, so my birds are completely vulnerable to an attack during the day, I could lose the whole flock in one fell swoop.
It's ironic I take this risk because I have a perfectly good tractor, that's completely predator proof. But seeing how enthusiasticly my birds push through the door every morning, how much they love the freedom to roam my yard, they've convinced me to take the risk on their behalf. Haha, it's so much like watching your teenager drive off in a car by themselves for the first time.
Scares and worries you, but you share in their joy of the freedom.I think I'm invulnerable to a nighttime attack though, with the methods used in my tractor. Nighttime is the highest risk, with the birds being completely helpless, unable to aid at all in their own defense.
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ChickenObsession
Songster
- Jul 5, 2018
- 374
- 307
- 141
what kind of chickens were they
WOW! What a beautiful build.
I, too, have used and am building more, CP hoop coops here in NC (we are about 40 - 50 miles from you and we spent yesterday, Thanksgiving, at our daughter/SILs place right off of Hwy 401 w/ FV addy). I started with 2x6 & 2x4 wood base framing in 2014 for the first 3 coops and they went thru 2 OTR moves after being built. 1st move was to "temporary quarters" at a friends' farm about 6 miles from original home, while we stayed in a hotel for 6 weeks and then got ready for the birds at the new place after we moved in. Total mileage between the two moves was about 30 miles. 2 of the coops were actually used as tractors on pasture grass at original place, stationary at the temp quarters, then again tried as tractors at new property.
No wheels (I still scratch my head at how to build the different ways of doing wheel attachments that allow them to be raised to sit and lowered to move) and we quickly found that bunch grass & sand made it extremely hard on the Hoops' frames w/ the bumping and jerking they got. They became stationary along with the 3rd one. Now, 4 years later and lots of DLM on that sand - those pressure treated 2x4 & 2x6" frames are starting to disintegrate into the sand/DLM...
I also started with chicken wire and since they were tractors - no HC at all as on/under ground skirting. Hmm. The chickens themselves can rip the chicken wire when they are frustrated or mad by weather and not getting to free range. Other predators of course, as well, ... and then there are our PONIES. Hmm. They even dug a hole at one corner of not 1 but 2 different coops - allowing young chickens to escape that we never saw again! How do I know it was the ponies? Well, caught them in the act the 2nd time but not quick enough to catch the young chickens that escaped.
So, I am slowly replacing all the chicken wire with hardware cloth - at least down on the bottom 24" and installing ground wire that is being buried by more DLM. When the frames' are completely gone, will put in T-Posts to hold the hoops securely. May raise the hoops up on telephone poles, too. Don't know just yet. I used 2x4 pressure treated lumber to build the front frame & 1x2 (I think?) for the doors. After 4 years, the doors are also falling apart. Will be getting creative over Christmas holidays to see what can do to fix that issue. May go ahead and rip out the whole front frame and redo it, too.
2 of the coops, situated behind the shed row style barn, still have the ORIGINAL HD silver tarps from 2014. They were removed and put back on with each of the 2 moves. Now we are starting to see some star shine thru them - not from weather but from -
The coop next to the barn seems to catch a lot of wind. The original HD tarp was shredded after 2 1/2 yrs during Hurricane Mathew in 2016. Then the much lighter weight (still said HD, LOL) tarp was again destroyed during Hurricane Florence in September 2018... I'm not sure this one will last the whole winter season of 2018/2019 - we'll see.
Then we used the CPs to hoop some pens that were built by family whom we bought the property from. 1st two didn't have roofs at all. They are now hooped and covered with tarp(s). The feed bags at the bottom keep the smaller chicks we had at the time in (2x4 wire on pens). We will be putting 3/4 -1" HC on these - eventually. Not sure when.
And just built this new styled one last weekend. Headed back out to finish the wire on both the front and the back & install the nesting box. This is holding what will be one breeding group of Bielefelders - 3 pullets & a cockerel (I have another quad and a trio as well). There is only 1 CP - so it's approx 4'x8'. It will be hooked to a 64' long run and the chickens will also be able to free range in the future as well. I didn't frame it w/ lumber at all - putting it along an existing goat/sheep field fence w/ t-posts I used 4 t-posts, some landscaping timbers for the base, 3 wood pallets. A 2nd CP was cut to make the gate. For now, there is no wire at all on the pallets - but it can be added if I find that we need it. It might be HC - 3/4 to 1" or it might be the same 2x4" wire used in the other construction.
I also built a 2nd one at the other end of what will be a 64' run. Its a little different, LOL. These were pretty easy for me to do - a mid-50s woman - by myself in a little over 2 days. I did have help from 2 granddaughters (7 & 8 yrs old) on Saturday doing all the zip tying of the 2x4" wire to the CPs, moving the pallets to where they needed to go & putting the tarps on...
And personally - they don't look too bad and this is what you see from the front porch of our house.
Our eventual goal IS to put up corrugated roofing on all the hooped CP configurations. But this allows me to use them now for chickens. Or we may change to HD, custom made tarps in a "barn red" color ( http://tarps.com/PVC-Tarps.htm )that will match the roof of the house, the car port, the shop and the whole shed row barn... We haven't decided yet.
**********
How old are your chickens? Have they started laying yet? Do you like that nesting box? I was looking at those, too.
I, too, have used and am building more, CP hoop coops here in NC (we are about 40 - 50 miles from you and we spent yesterday, Thanksgiving, at our daughter/SILs place right off of Hwy 401 w/ FV addy). I started with 2x6 & 2x4 wood base framing in 2014 for the first 3 coops and they went thru 2 OTR moves after being built. 1st move was to "temporary quarters" at a friends' farm about 6 miles from original home, while we stayed in a hotel for 6 weeks and then got ready for the birds at the new place after we moved in. Total mileage between the two moves was about 30 miles. 2 of the coops were actually used as tractors on pasture grass at original place, stationary at the temp quarters, then again tried as tractors at new property.
No wheels (I still scratch my head at how to build the different ways of doing wheel attachments that allow them to be raised to sit and lowered to move) and we quickly found that bunch grass & sand made it extremely hard on the Hoops' frames w/ the bumping and jerking they got. They became stationary along with the 3rd one. Now, 4 years later and lots of DLM on that sand - those pressure treated 2x4 & 2x6" frames are starting to disintegrate into the sand/DLM...
I also started with chicken wire and since they were tractors - no HC at all as on/under ground skirting. Hmm. The chickens themselves can rip the chicken wire when they are frustrated or mad by weather and not getting to free range. Other predators of course, as well, ... and then there are our PONIES. Hmm. They even dug a hole at one corner of not 1 but 2 different coops - allowing young chickens to escape that we never saw again! How do I know it was the ponies? Well, caught them in the act the 2nd time but not quick enough to catch the young chickens that escaped.
So, I am slowly replacing all the chicken wire with hardware cloth - at least down on the bottom 24" and installing ground wire that is being buried by more DLM. When the frames' are completely gone, will put in T-Posts to hold the hoops securely. May raise the hoops up on telephone poles, too. Don't know just yet. I used 2x4 pressure treated lumber to build the front frame & 1x2 (I think?) for the doors. After 4 years, the doors are also falling apart. Will be getting creative over Christmas holidays to see what can do to fix that issue. May go ahead and rip out the whole front frame and redo it, too.
2 of the coops, situated behind the shed row style barn, still have the ORIGINAL HD silver tarps from 2014. They were removed and put back on with each of the 2 moves. Now we are starting to see some star shine thru them - not from weather but from -
The coop next to the barn seems to catch a lot of wind. The original HD tarp was shredded after 2 1/2 yrs during Hurricane Mathew in 2016. Then the much lighter weight (still said HD, LOL) tarp was again destroyed during Hurricane Florence in September 2018... I'm not sure this one will last the whole winter season of 2018/2019 - we'll see.
Then we used the CPs to hoop some pens that were built by family whom we bought the property from. 1st two didn't have roofs at all. They are now hooped and covered with tarp(s). The feed bags at the bottom keep the smaller chicks we had at the time in (2x4 wire on pens). We will be putting 3/4 -1" HC on these - eventually. Not sure when.
And just built this new styled one last weekend. Headed back out to finish the wire on both the front and the back & install the nesting box. This is holding what will be one breeding group of Bielefelders - 3 pullets & a cockerel (I have another quad and a trio as well). There is only 1 CP - so it's approx 4'x8'. It will be hooked to a 64' long run and the chickens will also be able to free range in the future as well. I didn't frame it w/ lumber at all - putting it along an existing goat/sheep field fence w/ t-posts I used 4 t-posts, some landscaping timbers for the base, 3 wood pallets. A 2nd CP was cut to make the gate. For now, there is no wire at all on the pallets - but it can be added if I find that we need it. It might be HC - 3/4 to 1" or it might be the same 2x4" wire used in the other construction.
I also built a 2nd one at the other end of what will be a 64' run. Its a little different, LOL. These were pretty easy for me to do - a mid-50s woman - by myself in a little over 2 days. I did have help from 2 granddaughters (7 & 8 yrs old) on Saturday doing all the zip tying of the 2x4" wire to the CPs, moving the pallets to where they needed to go & putting the tarps on...
And personally - they don't look too bad and this is what you see from the front porch of our house.
Our eventual goal IS to put up corrugated roofing on all the hooped CP configurations. But this allows me to use them now for chickens. Or we may change to HD, custom made tarps in a "barn red" color ( http://tarps.com/PVC-Tarps.htm )that will match the roof of the house, the car port, the shop and the whole shed row barn... We haven't decided yet.
**********
How old are your chickens? Have they started laying yet? Do you like that nesting box? I was looking at those, too.
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