I was thinking of a hoop house out of PVC pipe for the most of it.

Here was my plan. Make a box... out of boards, 12 inches or more, from anywhere I can find (hopefully my dads garage has a bunch of these, and I don't have to spend money there. I can also appeal to freecycle for some.) Secure the four corners of the box with 12inch 4X4s. Buy 7 13ft long PVC pipe, 1/2 inch in diameter. Buy 14 1 ft sections of 3/4 inch pipe. Screw the 3/4 inch PVC to the insides of the box at one foot intervals and screw them all the way through so that the screw is seen going through the bottom of the pipe (which will support the pipe that sits in it). Place the 13 ft 1/2 inch sections of pipe into the 3/4 inch sections of pipe secured to the box. Cover the box and pipe entirely with chicken wire, stapling it to the box on all sides including the ends.

What do you think? I haven't ever seen this done before, but it seems like a really sound plan that will not cost much. I got the inspiration from looking into making a small green house or cloche for the garden. The same idea should be sound for the chicken coop if I can eventually make them a box, off the ground to go into at night. If I am lucky, I can find the wood for this too. Afterall... a coat of paint will work well to make it all look the same, and as long as it isn't covered in lead, then it should work fine.

http://www.noble.org/Ag/Horticulture/MiniHoopHouse/hoophouse2.jpg

http://www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/PROJECTS/CURRENT/Sept-Art/charlie-hoop-frame-190w.jpg

Does that seem sound? The only trouble I am having is how to close off the ends. We do have little friends (ie: raccoons) which would gladly take off with chickens and/or eggs at any time... so I need to make sure it is secure, but still accessable. I want to connect it to a box so I can eventually move it when we move with out breaking it. (which Don and I decided yesterday, we will not do for about a year). That way, when we do move, we take the pipes out of the box, move the box, and put the pipes and wire back up. Easy. And if we make the coop/box connected with staples, we should even be able to use the same chicken wire for a few years.

I need ideas. Anyone done this?

If you have racoons, you'll need to use half inch square wire not chicken wire, or that is what I read in my books before we built ours. I have to run, but I'll come back later to comment more.

My dad said that we may have to put it 1/2 ft under the ground too... so they can't dig in. Ugh... darn. This may be a bigger project than I thought. Oh well.... bring on the challange. I haven't had one of those in a while... (Is there a manicly crazy smilie?)

Yes, check this out for ideas/inspiration:

Hoop Coops: How To Build a Chicken Coop from Lightweight Cattle Panels (http://www.plamondon.com/hoop-coop.html)

and especially

Wire Hoop Chicken Coop (http://hollygraphicart.com/misc/wirehoopcoop.html)

Also google "chicken tractors."

Lots of options for cheap coops. You will need to put a tarp over part of the chicken wire so they have a place to get out of the rain. And once they're 4 months old or so they will like to roost at night but you can build a small ladder inside the hoop house that they can roost on. And attach nest boxes to it somehow. The Sugar Mtn Farm blog (second link above) has info on how they did both those things - very simply.

Have fun! Can't wait to see pics! We will be making a hybrid of the first and second links once the snow melts to get our girls out of their current coop for a while to let it rest (and maybe forever as it's a wet icky spot better for storing firewood!). We should definitely share ideas and thoughts on construction as we go...we found the rebar to be very expensive but up here a hoop house must be somewhat heavy or get blown away.

Oh you can put electric wire around the bottom of the hoop house to deter predators.

Nothing is easy. :lol:

Since we live on 5 acres and I wasn't sure exactly what might come out after our chicks, we built this one a couple of years ago. sorry, it's not the best picture, but the only one I could find.

We did 4X8, because that made the best use of standard 8 foot boards. Instead of burying the wire, you can just run it under the bottom, so that it's on the floor. That keeps the chickens from scratching like they like though. What we did, instead, was to make one side with the 1/2in wire grid, and the other side solid. The opening between the two can be shut off, making the "night time" area where they roost solid wood on all 6 sides. this way nothing could get to them at night, but they could have dirt to scratch in during the day. Being able to move the coop is a HUGE benefit, even if it's just 4 foot one way, and then back to the original 4 foot. They poop a lot!

We wanted to be able to move ours, so we did the chicken tractor, but if you didn't want to or need to, you could make any type of closed space for roosting safely at night and just a standard chicken wire "run" area for day. Your raccoons don't come out during the day do they? I've seen people use dog igloos, those really large wood crates, those plastic garden sheds you buy in a box and assemble, etc. Pretty much anything you can close up at night, completely, yet give them a bit of ventilation.

I've heard tale of raccoons reaching in through the one inch holes and yanking chickens heads off trying to pull them through the hole. blech. Weasels can get in through the one inch too. Might not happen, but Val's raccoons seem quite cheeky!

Yes... I have heard of this too. And I do have some super cheeky raccoons. Grrrr... lol... This is why I wanted to build the 12" box at the bottom and then put the hoop house over it. The pig wire one that Lauren posted may work too, although I would have to do something to make sure the coons didn't reach through at night... so I would have to make a full wood sleeping house.

One thing I thought of was a skirt of chicken wire. Like on the outside of the box at the bottom of the coop. Staked down with those thin camping steaks, so they couldn't get to the side of the box where it meets the ground. That would work for a while at least.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/bluerosemama/IMG_4257.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/bluerosemama/IMG_4256.jpg

Can't you just picture this face: "Eggs? What eggs? There were no eggs."
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/bluerosemama/IMG_4158.jpg

The only trouble I am having now is how to secure the ends. The fold over method doesn't seem too practical in my sense. Perhaps making a tall one with a full on door like the one that Lauren pictured would work? How would one secure that to PVC that raccoons WOULDN"T be able to get into? Hmmm...

Ok new question. How much room do they need if they are in a tractor? And will the raccoons be able to get under the tractor? They will, won't they? I mean, if I can lift and move it, then they will be able to figure it out. It won't be as easy to get into on the grass than on dirt, but I doubt that will deter them for long.

Medium sized laying hens need around 3 sqare feet each. Ours, at 8 X 4, is 32 w/six chickens (and we had 7) so that seems about right. Doesn't need to be as big if they'll have a day run or be allowed to free range a little. If you let them out just before dusk, they'll walk around a little and then go right back to roost.

Our chicken tractor has a bottom on the side that's enclosed. When you close the opening between the roosting area and the wire area, absolutely NOTHING could get in there. Solid wood, all the way around. It's heavy, but I can still move it a looooong way all by myself. We used lots of recycled stuff, including that old refrigerator handle. During the day the opening can be opened and the chickens can come out and scratch around since there's no wire on the floor of that area. They go back in to the wood area to lay eggs in cedar shavings we have in there.

I just remembered that Stacey (chococat at SMs) had an *awesome* plan for an A frame chicken coop. It was moveable, and the chickens roosted in the top of the A and then hopped down through an opening to a wire enclosed area at the bottom. Again, you could close that opening so nothing could get in at night. I'm trying to remember why we didn't use that plan. I think it was from an old Mother Earth news or something. Maybe she still has it? I lost it when I lost my computer a while back.

eta, you could just get a dog! LOL

True, but I haven't met a dog that thought that chickens were passive buddies. lol... I have had bird dogs. Unfortunetly. So although they would keep the coons at bay, they would scare and chase the chickens too. lol... so I doubt that would work for us. ;)

A frame huh? I could possibly do that. Becuase then I could build the top of the house with roosts in it. Hmmmmmmmm... I will have to think on that. :D

Chickens! - Niemann-Ross (http://niemannross.com/march06/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=10&MMN_position=66:41)

I am another that locks my chickens up at dusk in a 4 sided box type situation. I think it keeps them safer at night for my area (we have racoons too)and if the bugger still tries going after them the feed store suggested using "predator urine" (comes in a jar lol) around the coop to try and deter it further.
I really like that A-frame and your hoop house idea. I think you will be able to use what you have on hand to meet your needs, planning the coop is so much fun! My neighbor used an old doghouse and built a door on it for the night coop and during the day her chickens are in a pvc chicken tractor thing.


If you are not sick of looking at coop designs this link has some:

BackYardChickens.com - Raise Chickens, Build Chicken Coops, Hatch Eggs (http://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesigns.html)

Lol... thats in my favorites already. :)

We're moving this summer, so I can't garden much, and have been putting my gardening energy into planning for the chickens we'll be able to have at the new house. I'm making this coop:
Portable Chicken Mini-coop Plan (http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/2007-04-01/Portable-Chicken-Mini-coop-Plan.aspx)