Want to build a hoop coop, but I don't have cattle panels!

[aart]

I plan to trench down by 12 inches and sink in metal fencing for diggers.

Aprons might be easier and more effective:
Good examples of anti-dig apron installation.
If rodents are prolific, burying the apron ~12" would be good.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

from San Jose

So no snow load to deal with, where a shallow arc could be a problem.
Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[3KillerBs]

Honestly, I think you may be engaged in overengineering, but I have a special place in my heart for over engineering.

I know I'm over engineering it. My dad is an engineer so that's where I get it from.

My father always figured that anything that wasn't expected to last 100 years was a temporary make-do.

My DH is just as bad. We just bought 40-year metal roofing for the Chicken Palace.

 

[neo71665]

Oh crap, I've dealt with with enginturds for 30 years. They will show you 40 ways till sunday how to fit a square peg in a round hole on paper. You give them that peg and drill a hole they are lost. Same batch you give them 5 steel balls, a rubber mallet, and lock them in a round room after 5 hours they will manage to loose 3 balls, crack one in half, and are trying to hide the other one in a corner.

Anybody in the building trades over build. I'm an electrician but started out building houses when I was a teen. I overbuild and up size all my wiring on my personal stuff. My house is prolly insulated to stand up to canada winters.

 

[ElimAcres]

I noticed several people suggested pvc. I built my tractor using pvc as the arch for the roof. It's set onto a 2' high rectangular base that has hardware cloth around the sides. I covered the pvc with chicken wire and that is covered with a tarp. I have a little homemade coop that fits inside it. I live in Ohio and it has stood up well to snow in the winters. The pic is the finished hoop tractor without the tarp

 

[mopalia]

Smack-dab in Silicon Valley (San Jose, Ca). There’s a Tractor Supply about 40 miles south, but that’s it!
I didn’t think about conduit pipe. That would be super easy to attach to the 2 x 4 base I’m planning on. I’ve got 2 x 6’s I’m recycling from a fence. I’ve already got the corrugated roof material, metal garden fencing and the hardware cloth. I wondered around HomeDepot kind of making it up in my head. Thanks for the tip!!

Some Home Depots and Lowes carry or can get cattle panels, and they deliver, too. HD at
2181 Monterey Hwy
San Jose, CA 95125 can have it delivered, but you should check all the HDs in your area. Maybe one stocks it. Otherwise, you'll need to spend $79 for delivery. There's a $45 min for delivery., but you'll easily spend that if you buy 2 or is you need posts, etc as well. Also, so a Googlw maps search for "feed stores san jose" - I turned up several, and they looked like thay might have them, or know where to get them.

 

[mopalia]

Lots of them! But, no one carries them within a 50 mile radius and they don’t ship them.

They deliver. See my replay.