Turkey Poult Question

[Omniskies]

Tom, I'm in love with your set up. Incredibly, madly in love. I'm now frantically trying to figure out the dimensions and see how much it will cost to set that up.

 

[pdpatch]

The panels that make up the enclosure are 4 feet wide by 6 feet 5 inches tall. So each pen is customizable
as far as size goes. They can be taken down and moved if needed or used for differnt sized pens.
We have a 8' x 8', and a 12' x 8' pens there plus since that photo we made a odd ball
one at the far end for the turkey hens. You can make pens any size as long as it's a multiple of 4.
the roof could be made from a tarp and not what we use. Last year we used a tarp for the smaller out door one
but with the wind we have it got torn up twice while out side.

The reason I choose 6' 5" as the height is I am 6' 2" and that gave me 3 inches
not to bump my head.

Each panel takes three 2x2's for the uprights, and 1 cut in half for the top and bottom of the panel.
a 1x2 was used for the corner braces for each panel and nailed on after thw wire was stapled on.
Over the edges of the the wire we nailed lathe over it to help hold it in place and to stop me from getting
cut up by the chicken wire.

For those who don't know what lathe is, way back when when walls had real plaster on them. The wood behind the
plaster was small 1/2 inche by 1 inch ruff cut peices of wood. Although you can still buy lathe our was given
to use free.

The panels are screwed together using 2 1/2 inch screws. Most likely nails would have split out the ends of the 2 x 2's.

Each panel is held to the next by electric fence wire one peice at the top and one at the bottom. The roofs are screwed in place.

The first set I made was out of lumber from a mobile I am taring apart for materials, that I hope to use
for at least one mobile coop. The lumber is they are slightly smaller then a normal 2x2.

The second set of 10 panels we bought some 2x2's from out local discount lumber company. Because I ran out
of the free lumber. I think we spend a little over $100 for lumber and wire that day. In hind site I should
have purchased wall studs then ripped them in half. Since wall studs are the same price


The tops are made from some scrap sheet of 1/4 " and 3.8" plywood or paneling, which ever I had close and on hand.
between the long sides of the tops we used a 2 x 4 8 foot long to help support it. But a tarp would work and make it ever lower cost setup.

The doors are from the trailer house and have the middle cut out, re-enforce and with chicken wire over the
opening. I did a bunch of photo's while I was making one of the doors. When I get a chance I will put together a
how to on it. The panel for the door has one 2 x4 on the side of the hinge for more support. and an extra 2x2 just below door to keep the litter in.

We also use a 2 x 3 panel system for smaller pens and brooders, and use both panels system for temp outdoor pens.

Hopefully I will get time of make a better write up with photo's of how I made the pens. But we have one old Chevy van we are converting into a mobile coop and one smaller mobile coop in progress.

 

[Omniskies]

You rock so very much. Thanks for taking the time to break it all down for me. I have chicken wire but I'm afraid rats will be able to crawl inside and wreak havoc. And building a pen that large with 1/2" wire was killing my pocketbook.

I'll stop taking over the thread now