Overhead protection netting question

[IW17]

Good evening. First time poster. We recently had the opportunity to add chicks to our home. I've retrofitted a 10x12 shed into a coop, and purchased a 25x25 poultry netting from pinnoh farms. Forgive me if the answer to my question is obvious, however dispite searching I can't find exactly what I'm looking for. What size run should I build to accommodate the netting size while still allowing slack to raise the center? My perimeter will be six foot 4x2 fencing, with hardware cloth along the bottom 24". 4x4 posts at 8' centers for support. 2x4 tied in horizontally at the top, middle and bottom. My idea is to have a single 8' post dead center with a pvc cap as a softener. So basically perimeter at 6', with an 8' center support. I was thinking 20x20 however if I can got a bit larger I'd like to create as much usable space as possible for them with the size netting I have.

 

[AGeese]

Ya got me. I'm terrible with measurements. I just eyeball everything, but it sounds like you've done a fair bit of measuring already. Welcome to the forums. How many chicks did you get?

 

[troyer]

25'x25' minus 4' per side. For instance on the east/west sides the total will be 4' x 2 = 8', 25' minus 8' = 17'.
To make it easier to figure the numbers and to allow a bit extra on the netting the run should be 16'x16' outside measurement if I'm comprehending it correctly.

 

[perkolator]

How much height are you looking to add inside? I have 6ft exterior fencing and found it adequate to just keep the overhead netting mostly flat. I'm 5'10" and have to stoop a tad, but it's not like I hang out inside the run much and I'm not actually having to bend over for like you would with shorter fencing

 

[IW17]

I'm looking to attach the netting to the top of the six foot perimeter fencing and have a single post dead center sticking up eight feet, so two feet higher than the perimeter in a teepee type shape.

 

[troyer]

How far is the top netting going down the sides? I assumed that the top netting is going down the sides 4 feet to meet the 2' netting coming from the ground up. If it's only going to be a top cover, then your outside to outside run measurement can be 24'x24'.
If it's nylon or poly netting it's decently stretchy.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In a flat area put a 2' high post or something to simulate a 2' high post with your cap. Put your netting over that and stretch it out. Fasten down the corners and probably the sides to see what it covers. Using a tape measure, measure what you have. It is called a full scale model and should give you pretty accurate results. I'm an engineer and would trust this more than I would any calculations I made.

How are you going to fasten it down to the top railing? With that netting I'd use a furring strip screwed over the end of the netting into the top railing. I'd probably roll the netting over the edge of the furring strip to get a better grip on it. That would firmly clamp it down. Whatever you do include it in your scale model.

 

[IW17]

How far is the top netting going down the sides? I assumed that the top netting is going down the sides 4 feet to meet the 2' netting coming from the ground up. If it's only going to be a top cover, then your outside to outside run measurement can be 24'x24'.
If it's nylon or poly netting it's decently stretchy.

I apologize. After re reading my post I wasn't very clear on that. The perimeter will be 6' tall 4x2 fencing. The bottom 2' will also be wrapped with 1/2" hardware cloth for added security. The netting will be attached to the top of the perimeter fencing. So basically I'll only have a 2' rise in the center.

In a flat area put a 2' high post or something to simulate a 2' high post with your cap. Put your netting over that and stretch it out. Fasten down the corners and probably the sides to see what it covers. Using a tape measure, measure what you have. It is called a full scale model and should give you pretty accurate results. I'm an engineer and would trust this more than I would any calculations I made.

How are you going to fasten it down to the top railing? With that netting I'd use a furring strip screwed over the end of the netting into the top railing. I'd probably roll the netting over the edge of the furring strip to get a better grip on it. That would firmly clamp it down. Whatever you do include it in your scale model.

This is a great idea that quite frankly I should have thought about! I'll be attaching 2x4 stringers around the top, middle and bottom just for attachment points for the metal fencing. I'm going to be attaching the netting to the top 2x4 stringer. With what I haven't decided yet. The furring strip sounds like a solid idea. I might just end up using an extra treated 2x4 simply for longevity due to being in the elements and in a position that would be awkward to maintain easily.

 

[perkolator]

To find the hypotenuse of your overhead triangle, it's Rise(^2) x Run(^2) = Hypotenuse(^2). For a 2ft rise across 24ft length, you're looking at 24.34 ft long fencing overhead. A 25x25 sheet of netting should technically work, but won't be much extra material to play with.

I think it's doable but I'd confirm with a piece of string or something - mark out the 24ft length on the ground, use a piece of string and add a 2ft rise with a stick in the middle and a couple inches extra on each side for anchoring/overlapping - then measure the string.

 

[IW17]

To find the hypotenuse of your overhead triangle, it's Rise(^2) x Run(^2) = Hypotenuse(^2). For a 2ft rise across 24ft length, you're looking at 24.34 ft long fencing overhead. A 25x25 sheet of netting should technically work, but won't be much extra material to play with.

I think it's doable but I'd confirm with a piece of string or something - mark out the 24ft length on the ground, use a piece of string and add a 2ft rise with a stick in the middle and a couple inches extra on each side for anchoring/overlapping - then measure the string.

Thank you for the formula. I remember this being taught in school however 20 years later these things aren't nearly as clear to me. Mathematics is definitely one of those "use it or lose it" things. I'm going to recreate what I'm trying with an experiment at ground level. I see what you mean about 24x24 working but being tight. I need to account for snow load so I'll most likely shrink the footprint some just to have a bit of excess to work with. Also I was reading a thread on here about someone sinking a pvc post into the ground to set their center support post in so it can be removed ahead of heavy snow storms.