The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[ShrekDawg]

Come on over.

LOL if I lived closer I'd gladly help!

Click on “My Coop” under my avatar, Kelsey. My hoop build starts about halfway down. Cheap, sturdy, so easy to build even Ken and I, at our ages and with our disabilities, put it together in a weekend. Now that I don’t have chickens anymore, the coop will be our garden shed and the run our greenhouse, so not one wasted penny. Repurposing at its finest. Easy to add on to. The only wood in ours is the door we used to get in. We firmly believe that because there was no framing, it was better able to flex with the weather and our super strong winds instead of fighting them.

We loved it and I wouldn’t change a thing about it - Well, except make the people door wider to accommodate Kendra’s wheelchair. Here it is in winter.

View attachment 1376641

Thanks Blooie! I read your article* and loved it! It looks like an excellent set up and plenty roomy!

*at least I think it was the right one... this one?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/motel-chix.67240/

I had to go to you page and click your articles link as there was no link under your picture on mobile? But I found it just the same.

I think on mobile it just shows badges, no signatures either.

Just catching up before I fall into bed early.

@Teila congrats on your team win!

@JaeG where are you?

@KDOGG331 the Bell Book is really helpful, so if you want to try canning, do like @rjohns39 recommends and pick up a copy. It was easy enough to follow I did some canning when we had our little farm in north FL.

@Blooie I'd forgotten you had a hoop coop. I've wondered how one would hold up in our WY weather and now I know!

@CapricornFarm your beans are looking good. Are they bush beans or pole beans?

Thanks! I'm going to need to get that book.

Are beans hard to grow? I've thought about getting them but then I worried they might be a little bit of a pain with having to stake them or whatever. I'm even nervous about making the hills for my cucumbers haha

Also, what kind are used to make the delicious french cut canned green beans used in green bean casseroles?

Oh and Blooie, that thing held up to snow?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Sadly though, I think hoop coops might not end up being a cheaper option for us as they are really expensive here. I swear they used to be $19.99 or at least they were on sale and normal price was like $20.99 or something then it went up a tad to $21.99 and now I just checked and they are $23.49! That adds up when you want to make a long run... and add HC on top. Now, with Blooie's version, there is basically no wood or HC so that saves on cost a bit but still. That extreme wood framed one would cost a fortune. I think they also made them 2 inches wider though too or have they always been 50 inches? I thought they were 48? So maybe that adds to the cost. Idk. But at that rate I could buy some welded wire and build a much bigger one.

But then again, with welded wire, unlike with the hoop coop, I would HAVE to make a wood frame so maybe it would equal out to about the same in the end?? I really need to price it out and figure it out.

I suppose I could also make the run with t posts but then it's harder to roof than a cattle panel. Idk.

But a 48"x100' foot roll of welded wire is only about $70 at TSC and I could likely get it slightly cheaper at our local feed store instead as we are family friends with the manager.

And we already have a large roll of HC.

Sadly I'm not sure if a hoop coop is cheaper in my area :/

BUT.

It does seem wayyy easier so that might be worth something.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

Hoop coop....

I thought that's where you have your guineas. Or are you going to build another one? Bet you get it done before the goat shed is finished.

 

[drumstick diva]

Sorry Kdogs I just don't know , I've never made one

 

[ShrekDawg]

Sorry Kdogs I just don't know , I've never made one

It's okay! It's the thought that counts. Maybe you could save me some ice cream?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Okay yeah I embarrassingly forgot that I would need not one but two rolls of welded wire if I wanted to have enough for the ends... plus all the very expensive lumber...

So this hoop coop thing may end up being cheaper after all....

Sorry, mostly just thinking out loud here ha

I guess a better explanation of what I was originally trying to say though rather than it being more or less expensive was that I was having a somewhat hard time justifying spending so much on a cattle panel when you could get 100 feet of wire. But I guess the extra money spent is well worth the convenience of the hoop coop?

How big do you think you could go before it would need extra support? Is 24 feet too long?

Also I'm almost 6' (5' 11"), can you stand in this?

 

[Blooie]

There is hardware cloth on mine as well as good old chicken wire. The chicken wire is over the top of protect against overhead predators and the hardware cloth goes up the sides about 2 feet and then out another two feet at the bottom staked down on the ground with landscape fabric staples.

We went over a ton of plans before deciding on the panels. No matter how we sliced it, it still ca,e out cheaper than designs using a ton of wood and using all hardware cloth. We could have used hog panels just as easily as cattle panels, but as it happened the cattle panels were the ones on sale at the time.

Weather has never been an issue, as you can see from the photo I posted earlier. Last January we had an officially recorded gust of 90 mph dui g a storm where the sustained winds were in the 60s. So what we put into the run we ended up saving by not having to repair and rebuild.

We haven’t planted anything yet. Ken’s not sure now if he wants to grow any veggies at all this year, since we travel so much we won’t be around to take care of it. I’ll get some flowers in for my hummingbirds but that’s probably about it. I envy those of you who’ll be enjoying home grown vegetables.

 

[Blooie]

Just got off the phone with Jenny. KENDRA GOOGLED!!! Yep, she did! She had her iPad and decided she wanted to look at horses. So she started typing in the first letters and when the possible links popped up, she selected “horse”. She had no help, none whatsoever! Atta girl, Kendra!!!! She had to know what she wanted, know how to spell it, then choose the option based on being able to read the words that came up! If that ain’t communication I ain’t Blooie!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

There is hardware cloth on mine as well as good old chicken wire. The chicken wire is over the top of protect against overhead predators and the hardware cloth goes up the sides about 2 feet and then out another two feet at the bottom staked down on the ground with landscape fabric staples.

We went over a ton of plans before deciding on the panels. No matter how we sliced it, it still ca,e out cheaper than designs using a ton of wood and using all hardware cloth. We could have used hog panels just as easily as cattle panels, but as it happened the cattle panels were the ones on sale at the time.

Weather has never been an issue, as you can see from the photo I posted earlier. Last January we had an officially recorded gust of 90 mph dui g a storm where the sustained winds were in the 60s. So what we put into the run we ended up saving by not having to repair and rebuild.

We haven’t planted anything yet. Ken’s not sure now if he wants to grow any veggies at all this year, since we travel so much we won’t be around to take care of it. I’ll get some flowers in for my hummingbirds but that’s probably about it. I envy those of you who’ll be enjoying home grown vegetables.

Ah okay but it doesn't go all the way up the sides/top, right? I suppose that's probably not necessary anyhow.

But yeah, I'm starting to realize it might be cheaper after all because lumber definitely adds up! Although do you think it needs a base at the bottom? What's to stop a predator from lifting it up? The weight? Maybe I am being paranoid...

We have one very crafty fox though.

But wow that is amazing it was able to stand those winds!! So you think that was because of the flexibility of it and lack of wood?

Sorry for all the questions. But I do just have one more....

Can you use a hoop coop as a regular coop? And if so, how would you attach a huddle box? Assuming I WOULD need some sort of frame for that? Even if it's not on the whole run? Or do they even need a huddle box/"coop"?

I guess my thinking is if it is their permanent coop they would need more space than usual in a run?

Sorry again for all the questions and obviously if you don't know the answer to everything maybe someone else can chime in. Thanks for all the help!!

Just got off the phone with Jenny. KENDRA GOOGLED!!! Yep, she did! She had her iPad and decided she wanted to look at horses. So she started typing in the first letters and when the possible links popped up, she selected “horse”. She had no help, none whatsoever! Atta girl, Kendra!!!! She had to know what she wanted, know how to spell it, then choose the option based on being able to read the words that came up! If that ain’t communication I ain’t Blooie!!

WOW! That is AMAZING! GO KENDRA!! You must be so proud!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Just catching up before I fall into bed early.

@Teila congrats on your team win!

@JaeG where are you?

@KDOGG331 the Bell Book is really helpful, so if you want to try canning, do like @rjohns39 recommends and pick up a copy. It was easy enough to follow I did some canning when we had our little farm in north FL.

@Blooie I'd forgotten you had a hoop coop. I've wondered how one would hold up in our WY weather and now I know!

@CapricornFarm your beans are looking good. Are they bush beans or pole beans?

I think they are bush beans but i just planted them out of a bag of beans i bought in the store, so we will see!