We finally obtained a house this year with a yard large enough for a turkey pen, so my goal this summer has been to come up with a project that will bring my goal of keeping pet turkeys to life. The idea was to come up with the plan this year and build the pen next spring, but one thing led to another and I'm now in possession of two rapidly growing turkey chicks. They're about two weeks old now and although they haven't outgrown the 55 gallon tank they've been living in yet, they're well on their way to doing just that. So the turkey coop needs to happen a bit sooner than planned...
I sort of fell in love with this person's setup: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/turkey-coop
Originally, I wanted to replicate what the above user made (only, an 8'x16' version instead of his 8'x10' version) mostly because it was functional and looked really nice at the same time. I wanted to go a little above and beyond a wooden box and a dog kennel. But now that I've been put on the spot to get something up sooner rather than later, I was going to make a change and I wanted to see if anyone had any helpful opinions.
The first thing I plan to build is the run. Since the summer weather has been nice and these turkeys are still young, I figured it'd be best to get something up that I can turn them loose in outside and just give them a temporary shelter. I'm also a tad financially limited at the moment, beings how I wasn't originally planning a coop-tastrophe for this summer. But anyway, after flinching at the local price of timber and the amount of wood I'd need to build an 8x16 run, I came up with another idea. I've read a couple people online have built coops, especially small mobile chicken tractors, with 1" PVC pipe. I've found the benefits of using PVC phenomenal compared to wood, assuming I make the structure sturdy enough (which I definitely plan to do). PVC is almost half the price of lumber (a 1" diameter 10 foot PVC pole is $2.45 at Lowes, versus treated 8 foot 2x4 boards at $4.27 a pop), it wouldn't need to be painted or treated, it wouldn't rot over time, it could be much larger without costing more, and if I ever move or want to re-purpose the PVC, I can always just take it apart and the PVC would still be like new. The only real downside I could find was that the structure wouldn't be as heavy/sturdy as a wooden one but given that it'll be open on all sides (nothing for wind to catch or snow to sit on) and located directly behind a garage, as well as adding internal supports for it, I think it would be fine. Especially once chicken wire is added. So, first question, are there any ifs, ands, or buts anyone has about using PVC to build a run? Or any advice?
The run I'd plan to build with PVC would be 10'x20' since I'd buy the pipe in 10 foot sections, but all of the pipes would be cut in half so that the structure is a bunch a 5'x5' squares (Surely that'd help to make it decently sturdy?). I'll try to come up with a "blueprint" for it so there is a visual. I have it sketched out on paper but that doesn't help too much with showing it to you all. With all the sides, supports, and everything else, my hypothetical structure would require 46 individual 10' pipes. That's about $100 worth of PVC, and possibly that much again for all of the couplings/joints I'd need to stitch it together. Heck, with the original wooden run I wanted to build, it would have cost close to $200 for the lumber alone (not to mention paint, screws, or anything else...)
With a PVC skeleton in place, I'd then use UV resistant zip ties to fasten 1 inch galvanized chicken wire to the run. Since the PVC is a bunch of 5'x5' squares, I'd be able to use 60" tall chicken wire cut into 10' and 20' sections to cover the whole thing. The real shame is that to cover all but the "floor," I'd need 160 feet of wire and it's sold in rolls of 150 feet. Not a huge deal since I'm planning to get hardware cloth or something similar to attach to the "floor" anyway, I guess on section of the coop will have to have different wire. So, any comments, concerns, or advice regarding the PVC run?
As for the coop, the current plan is to just build something almost exactly like the one at the link above. I live in the Appalachian Mountains and our winters can be pretty tough, so I don't want to skimp on the shelter that the birds will likely spend most of their time in November-April. At least building it with wood would help guarantee it's fairly insulated and I love the easy-access nest boxes for the hens and that the waste will fall through the bottom of the coop (except during winter, when this will have to be covered to keep the coop warm). This will likely be built in the fall, just in time for the weather to start turning.
As for the overall goal here, I only plan to keep 4-5 turkeys tops. They'll likely only be heritage breeds as I plan to keep them primarily for pets and eggs. I may raise an extra one each year for eating too, not sure about that yet. Will a 10'x20' run be adequate space for up to 6 turkeys? The coop will likely be an 8'x8'x8' cube with at least two roosting bars and 4 2'x2' nest boxes (or 2 2'x4' nest boxes, are those too big?). Would a coop that size also fit 6 adult turkeys?
Any questions, comments, concerns, feedback, or anything else you have to offer would be appreciated!
I sort of fell in love with this person's setup: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/turkey-coop
Originally, I wanted to replicate what the above user made (only, an 8'x16' version instead of his 8'x10' version) mostly because it was functional and looked really nice at the same time. I wanted to go a little above and beyond a wooden box and a dog kennel. But now that I've been put on the spot to get something up sooner rather than later, I was going to make a change and I wanted to see if anyone had any helpful opinions.
The first thing I plan to build is the run. Since the summer weather has been nice and these turkeys are still young, I figured it'd be best to get something up that I can turn them loose in outside and just give them a temporary shelter. I'm also a tad financially limited at the moment, beings how I wasn't originally planning a coop-tastrophe for this summer. But anyway, after flinching at the local price of timber and the amount of wood I'd need to build an 8x16 run, I came up with another idea. I've read a couple people online have built coops, especially small mobile chicken tractors, with 1" PVC pipe. I've found the benefits of using PVC phenomenal compared to wood, assuming I make the structure sturdy enough (which I definitely plan to do). PVC is almost half the price of lumber (a 1" diameter 10 foot PVC pole is $2.45 at Lowes, versus treated 8 foot 2x4 boards at $4.27 a pop), it wouldn't need to be painted or treated, it wouldn't rot over time, it could be much larger without costing more, and if I ever move or want to re-purpose the PVC, I can always just take it apart and the PVC would still be like new. The only real downside I could find was that the structure wouldn't be as heavy/sturdy as a wooden one but given that it'll be open on all sides (nothing for wind to catch or snow to sit on) and located directly behind a garage, as well as adding internal supports for it, I think it would be fine. Especially once chicken wire is added. So, first question, are there any ifs, ands, or buts anyone has about using PVC to build a run? Or any advice?
The run I'd plan to build with PVC would be 10'x20' since I'd buy the pipe in 10 foot sections, but all of the pipes would be cut in half so that the structure is a bunch a 5'x5' squares (Surely that'd help to make it decently sturdy?). I'll try to come up with a "blueprint" for it so there is a visual. I have it sketched out on paper but that doesn't help too much with showing it to you all. With all the sides, supports, and everything else, my hypothetical structure would require 46 individual 10' pipes. That's about $100 worth of PVC, and possibly that much again for all of the couplings/joints I'd need to stitch it together. Heck, with the original wooden run I wanted to build, it would have cost close to $200 for the lumber alone (not to mention paint, screws, or anything else...)
With a PVC skeleton in place, I'd then use UV resistant zip ties to fasten 1 inch galvanized chicken wire to the run. Since the PVC is a bunch of 5'x5' squares, I'd be able to use 60" tall chicken wire cut into 10' and 20' sections to cover the whole thing. The real shame is that to cover all but the "floor," I'd need 160 feet of wire and it's sold in rolls of 150 feet. Not a huge deal since I'm planning to get hardware cloth or something similar to attach to the "floor" anyway, I guess on section of the coop will have to have different wire. So, any comments, concerns, or advice regarding the PVC run?
As for the coop, the current plan is to just build something almost exactly like the one at the link above. I live in the Appalachian Mountains and our winters can be pretty tough, so I don't want to skimp on the shelter that the birds will likely spend most of their time in November-April. At least building it with wood would help guarantee it's fairly insulated and I love the easy-access nest boxes for the hens and that the waste will fall through the bottom of the coop (except during winter, when this will have to be covered to keep the coop warm). This will likely be built in the fall, just in time for the weather to start turning.
As for the overall goal here, I only plan to keep 4-5 turkeys tops. They'll likely only be heritage breeds as I plan to keep them primarily for pets and eggs. I may raise an extra one each year for eating too, not sure about that yet. Will a 10'x20' run be adequate space for up to 6 turkeys? The coop will likely be an 8'x8'x8' cube with at least two roosting bars and 4 2'x2' nest boxes (or 2 2'x4' nest boxes, are those too big?). Would a coop that size also fit 6 adult turkeys?
Any questions, comments, concerns, feedback, or anything else you have to offer would be appreciated!
