Winter Coop Hoop! YAY I did it before the snow!

[drumstick diva]

I like it too - will it support the kind of snow load we get? I would hope the hoop shape and plastic will encourge it to slide off instead of heaping up. But, you can never tell what winter has in store for us. Brrrr!

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

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Yeah, I hope so too! DH wants to put a post in the center for beams inside the hoop for more support. He hasnt done it yet.

Hope there's still time!

The way rain falls off the smooth plastic, I hope snow does, too.

 

[dwegg]

Looks great and they will be happy for it when it is freezing out and rainy...the post supports is a good idea...a couple of tips?? What a bout a good thick layer of sand for the run? Easy to clean and won't get muddy...you could put a layer of grey paving sand first...compact it then put play sand over the top....also I don't think the green garden wire looks secure enough? Although I think you let your girls out?

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

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Oh yeah, agree

the green wire is attractive, but NOT secure enough coops! I use my coop to show newbies what NOT to do. If I could scrounge up money and time, I would redo the whole thing.

Luckily, predators around here aren't used to fighting or working for their food. There's a big dumpster filled with grade school lunch throwaways which is quite busy every night right across the street from our yard, sometimes the wild animals get into little squabbles as they line up for their turn in the dumpster. Live chicken in a weak fence? Too much trouble. I doubt these coons have ever eaten live prey. We found one dead just yesterday in our yard, DH jokes "probably died of diabetes". Hawks can't seem to get the trajectory right, they've never been able to nab a chicken. They've tried, but no, our Silkies have nabbed them back. No doubt if the Silkie damaged the hawk enough, they'd be calling the young'uns over for tasty hawk.

My neighbor's hunting dogs have caught the chickens a few times, but the chickens have wiggled out of their feathers unharmed, the dogs running off with their "prize" of empty feathers.

That green wire is NO MATCH for a dog, though. If I could do it all over, I would use hardware cloth over cattle fencing, good and sturdy, with actual framing by an actual builder.

My good luck is in no way intended as "the right way to keep chickens". Truly, we have been blessed with safety and luck. A little farther out from the dumpsters and free handouts, the predators are for real, and the chickens would need more of a Fort Knox.