Hoop Houses for Turkeys and such

[freemotion]

I have two cattle panels left over from making the pig pasture fence that will be used to make a hoop house for either the turkeys or to grow out some roosters....probably next year. I don't think I could stand another project this year!!! But I'll start building it...thanks for the clear and inspiring pictures!

 

[lorihadams]

wow.....gotta show that to hubby....

 

[emilosevich]

love the hoop houses. What a great idea. Might have to get DH right on it

 

[BeccaOH]

Very nice.

I have a 8 x 10 hoop house made from 2 panels with regular rolled fencing on the ends. Used it all winter for my turkeys and they did just fine. Have ducks growing out in it now, but they need a pasture attached, which I have yet to get to.

It is a bear for me to move. I tried moving it with the big lawn mower and injured a cochin's leg last summer.

I also have 2 that are 6 x 8. The hoops are plastic conduit covered with heavy plastic netting. They are my summer grow out pens that I can get into but not stand up straight. They are great for air flow on these hot days. None of the birds have shown any stress. I could use another.

Thanks

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep moving them seems to be an issue.

But BR has a big tractor (or he just hitches up them kids and cracks the whip) so thats what he does to shuffle them around.

 

[BeccaOH]

BR has nice flat land out behind his house, too. I'm also dealing with hillside, which doesn't help.

I can move the 6x8 houses by hand though.

How do you move the hoop with birds inside? The birds run to the backside as I'm pulling it and often get caught by the frame board. When I'm moving the small ones by hand I can watch for this but not so with the big one when I'm on a machine trying to maneuver it. :/

 

[freemotion]

I would think that moving it is not a job for one person. What if someone was behind the house, shooing the birds away from the board, and warning the person pulling it if they needed to stop?

What would happen if you went in and strung a cord six inches in from the back and a few inches up from the ground, that would push the birds along and away from the bottom board? Would that work?

 

[Bourbon Red]

I use 2x8's for the sides and 2x6's for the 'ends' - that way there's a small gap in the front and back. Center the 2x6's on the 2x8's so that you're 3/4" down from the top (which will = a 3/4" gap on the bottom too. That way the crack isn't so large that the critters can scoot right out of there but is enough that you can get stopped in time if someone should go down...

The cord idea is a good one - I usually just take it slow. If I move them when they're hungry they (usually...) will rush to the fresh grass and it isn't a problem. Have a prybar handy the first couple of times in case you have some slow learners...

I don't know what to tell you about hillsides - the glaciers did a pretty good job of it for us here - but I know that down by you guys it gets quite a bit rollier. If i have to move the houses very far I hook up the tractor - but for the 12-15' slideahead I just loop a rope around my ample backside and lean into it...they move pretty easily (for something that size) --on this flat ground that is! When using the tractor just go slllooowwwwwwly - they learn pretty quickly to get outta the way.
I suppose you could also run a board across the tops of the 2x8's for them to use as a roost - put it right in the back so that it would help 'sweep' them out of the way as it scoots along...

 

[freemotion]

I attached "sweeps" to the bottoms of my gates on my uneven ground so that chickens can't escape. I used strips of leftover rubber roofing....anything flexible would work, even strips of old carpet....attaching it with zipties. The zipties needed replacing in the spring due to the sweeps getting frozen into the snow and ice. I used plastic baling twine this spring to replace the broken zipties. I will put sweeps on my tractor to deal with uneven ground and chicken-sized gaps.