The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

@Lacy Blues

In my area, the winds are too strong for velcro. I got the smaller clamps at Menards for .99 each. They're very strong. But I"m using them on kennel. May not work in your application.

 

[RedRidge]

For other applications (when Velcro won't work), I use cow magnets.
That said... even with 75mph winds during a tornado this commercial Velcro held fine.
The hardware disease cow magnets are great for anything you want to put up temporarily.

 

[Leahs Mom]

For other applications (when Velcro won't work), I use cow magnets.
That said... even with 75mph winds during a tornado this commercial Velcro held fine.
The hardware disease cow magnets are great for anything you want to put up temporarily.

Where did you get the velcro...do you have a link?

Also, cow magnets. Do you have a photo of how you've used them? And where do you get them? Regular farm store or elsewhere?

 

[Lacy Blues]

For other applications (when Velcro won't work), I use cow magnets.
That said... even with 75mph winds during a tornado this commercial Velcro held fine.
The hardware disease cow magnets are great for anything you want to put up temporarily.

????

 

[Lacy Blues]

On the velcro RedRidge, do you get the sew on or the sticky stuff?

I found some sew-on on eBay that is a good price but I'm not sure how I could attach that to the vinyl.

Thanks for the tips on the clamps. I don't think there would be a way for me to use them in this particular situation.

In fact, I think I may take some pictures of how my billboard tarp is held down on my hoop coop and maybe have a discussion with y'all on how to integrate the vinyl "windows".

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Lacy Blues

Did you see this....pretty nice in appearance. Maybe their setup might have some ideas that will help? But it doesn't look like the sides roll up...not sure.


Quote:

 

[armorfirelady]

Does the clear plastic cause more heat in hot weather or is it something you remove in the summer?

I roll it up from spring to fall & leave it rolled up.

Quote: I do and I used a grommet hole maker for a tent and put grommets in mine. Then during the time its down I use the ball bungee cords (bungees that have the ball on one end and bungee is a loop) I have used them in the past and they hold well in high winds. I don't keep the sides down tight so air can get in but it stops the cold drafts. I leave the door window open and have roof vents so I don't have to put it up during the winter. Actually we get so much snow it would be pointless for me to put them up I would spend most of the day putting them up & down lol

 

[RedRidge]

Velcro... I ordered it from a tarp store. I'll look up the link tomorrow. It is the stick on kind. It sticks great to new clean vinyl but I used a staple gun to attach the half next to the wood. The "softer" half is what is in the wood (as opposed to the courser loops). I'm know in not saying that correctly but the method to that madness was that fewer other things like grass would get stuck in it during the summer when the vinyl was stored away.
For cow magnets... I started using them years ago when I competed dogs in herding trials. The magnets are so strong that I could secure shade cloth anywhere I wanted to my vehicle. For other uses like tarps over hardware cloth or chicken wire when the other surface isn't magnetic i just use 2 magnets, one on each side.
We can get them at the local co-op and farm store. They come in round and square. I use the square for this purpose.
http://www.jefferspet.com/products/blackmax-coated-magnet-ea

 

[Sylviaanne]

Do you get a lot of wind? I'm wondering if you have to secure it down at night? We get a lot of wind and I have some of the really thick, clear vinyl but I haven't put it on the coop yet. I know I need to get it on there soon but I guess I'm just wondering about how to fasten it down in case the wind starts blowing.

I am making my addition out of pallets and covering them with chicken wire and hardware cloth and then a tarp over that. The tarps aren't that expensive and have grommets that I can hook little bungee cords to and then to the wood or wire. We have some bad tires around here that we are going to put on top to keep the wind from making a lot of noise with the tarps. I have no idea why we have bad tires on the property. LOL Depending on how cold the chickens seem, will cause me to decide if I need to put plywood over the pallets but for now, they are what they are and there is lots of open space.

I saw some lady took the feed bags cut them open and used them to help close off her pallet coop. Yesterday we bought 10 bags of food and we haven't gone to the dump for a while so I had several bags that I could use. I didn't cut them open as I don't have a staple gun right now but just tucked them in between the slats of the pallets. As I worked, there was a noticeable drop in the temp, mostly because the bags were blocking the wind. It got downright comfortable in there and it isn't finished.

 

[slayv4petz]

That I do not know since I have never used light before. 

I usually have lots of leftover snow if you change your mind     And yes I was just sharing what I do with my hens.  I forgot to add that both ends of my coops are covered with heavy duty clear plastic so their coop is always light inside. Once the snow falls it will probably be brighter inside when it reflects inside. 

If I had enough I think it would be retty cool to cover the whole coop with it so it stayed bright in there lol 

I'm glad you shared with me what you do with your hens, I really do appreciate it, I definitely like the idea of using clear plastic, right now I'm using regular old blue tarp for shading, but will be switching out to clear for the winter, we've been pretty lucky the last several years, with mild winters.
Um yeah nah I'll pass on the extra snow, you can keep that, all I want for Christmas is a white one, oh and a nice little compound bow

Edit to add pic