Hello everyone. I dont often record my projects in a "build log" so i thought i would with the current pen we are building, maybe it will be helpful for someone.
Our Background:
We have owned chickens for about 2.5 yrs and at this time we have less than 60 chickens, and more than 50, the exact number is a mystery. Currently we have 2 8'x8' and 1 4'x4' stand alone wooden pens also 2 6'x8' chicken tractors. Our flock is forever growing and I'm tired of building sub par stand alone wooden pens. We thought chicken tractors were the answer but we discovered they aren't exactly for us. So we needed an end all solution to our growing flock.
The plan:
As said before we were not satisfied with wooden pens. things warp, rot, mold, etc. I know alot of these things can be prevented. It started out we were going to buy 2 10x10 dog pens with chain link fence and combine them into 1 20x20 pen but after we talked about it we decided we could do better. We liked the idea of being able to build various size pens by simply buying more dog pens but they are expensive. about $300/ea for cheap ones and most people say there flimsy and not worth it. So those were out. We didnt want to go back to a wooden pen now that we had it in our minds that we wanted a modular pen setup.
What we came up with is to build 10 steel "panels", each 10ft wide by 6ft 9" tall. these panels would all be identical in size and design. This would allow us to configure different size pens at any given time we choose with nothing more than taking apart a few bolts and moving the panels around. 10 panels gives us an outer diameter of 20x20 with a split down the middle making it 2 20x10 pens. if in 6 months we decide we need 2 10x10's and a 20x10 i can simply build more panels and add them to the configuration. Being made from heavy duty steel there life expectancy is dramatically increased over a wooden counterpart.
So here goes nothing, i was given a deadline of September 30th to finish. I hope everyone enjoys the show because its going to be interesting, feel free to ask questions.
Building Material List:
QTY: Description:
(23) 1.25" square tubing 14ga wall thickness 20ft per piece
(1) 1.25" 14ga flatstock 20ft
(3) 14ga galvanized weld wire fencing 2x4 opening diameter 50ft X 5ft per roll
(75) 16x8x4 cinder blocks
(6) Door hinges
(2) Locking door latches
(40) 1/8 quick link hooks
(1) 25ft x 25ft aviary netting
(1) Rustoleum enamel 1 gallon Gloss Black 7779
...Ill add more as i go (or remember)
08/25/2014: Steel arrived
08/29/2014: Trip to home depot, bought 90% of the materials needed for completion (no pic
)
08/30/2014: I finished building the jig for the steel panels
Our Background:
We have owned chickens for about 2.5 yrs and at this time we have less than 60 chickens, and more than 50, the exact number is a mystery. Currently we have 2 8'x8' and 1 4'x4' stand alone wooden pens also 2 6'x8' chicken tractors. Our flock is forever growing and I'm tired of building sub par stand alone wooden pens. We thought chicken tractors were the answer but we discovered they aren't exactly for us. So we needed an end all solution to our growing flock.
The plan:
As said before we were not satisfied with wooden pens. things warp, rot, mold, etc. I know alot of these things can be prevented. It started out we were going to buy 2 10x10 dog pens with chain link fence and combine them into 1 20x20 pen but after we talked about it we decided we could do better. We liked the idea of being able to build various size pens by simply buying more dog pens but they are expensive. about $300/ea for cheap ones and most people say there flimsy and not worth it. So those were out. We didnt want to go back to a wooden pen now that we had it in our minds that we wanted a modular pen setup.
What we came up with is to build 10 steel "panels", each 10ft wide by 6ft 9" tall. these panels would all be identical in size and design. This would allow us to configure different size pens at any given time we choose with nothing more than taking apart a few bolts and moving the panels around. 10 panels gives us an outer diameter of 20x20 with a split down the middle making it 2 20x10 pens. if in 6 months we decide we need 2 10x10's and a 20x10 i can simply build more panels and add them to the configuration. Being made from heavy duty steel there life expectancy is dramatically increased over a wooden counterpart.
So here goes nothing, i was given a deadline of September 30th to finish. I hope everyone enjoys the show because its going to be interesting, feel free to ask questions.
Building Material List:
QTY: Description:
(23) 1.25" square tubing 14ga wall thickness 20ft per piece
(1) 1.25" 14ga flatstock 20ft
(3) 14ga galvanized weld wire fencing 2x4 opening diameter 50ft X 5ft per roll
(75) 16x8x4 cinder blocks
(6) Door hinges
(2) Locking door latches
(40) 1/8 quick link hooks
(1) 25ft x 25ft aviary netting
(1) Rustoleum enamel 1 gallon Gloss Black 7779
...Ill add more as i go (or remember)
08/25/2014: Steel arrived
08/29/2014: Trip to home depot, bought 90% of the materials needed for completion (no pic
)08/30/2014: I finished building the jig for the steel panels
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