PVC Pipe For Run Roof

[purpletree23]

I have a large run for my chickens but it needs a roof/cover. We have a local hawk that likes chick dinners. Anyway.....I have a bad back and want to use light weight materials and was wondering if I could use lengths of PVC that I could somehow attach to the fence I have and have the top rounded so I could cover it with wire. I did cover the run with bird netting (I used zip ties to create a long wide piece of netting and then zip tied it to the fence. I worked great and I thought I was the bees knees until it snowed and all of it stretched to the ground and froze. YIPPEE!

How can I use PVC to make a dome? How do I attach it to the ground in a sturdy fashion? Should I pound in pieces of something like rebar and then slide the PVC over the top?

PLEASE HELP!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

kind of depends on where you live. I think that if you live in an area that gets snow and ice, it will come down in the first heavy snow fall.


What I used in my big run is old CD's hung from strings. They reflect the light and mess with the hawks vision. I've got redtails and sharpies nesting not far from the coop

 

[purpletree23]

This time I would not cover the run with bird netting. I would use chicken wire. Do you still think it would come down in heavy snow? We do get a lot of snow and ice.

What would you do if you were me? Do the CD's really work? This hawk is bold.

Thanks for the input.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I had chain link come down in a heavy snow. PVC can get brittle in the cold and after being in the sun for an extended period of time

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I think if you secure your pipe as you would any piece of lumber, it will work. I too have to come up with something to cover my pen because of hawks. My problem is I have trees in the pen. Good luck with yours.

 

[bison]

How wide is the run? In other words, what is the span you have to cross?

 

[purpletree23]

I'm not good with measurements. It's 100ft of 6ft high cow fence in the shape of a circle. Maybe 20 ft diameter.

 

[bison]

That's a tough one... the circle plus that diameter makes it difficult structurally. It seems like a really long span to try to use pvc and to get it to hold up under the weight of snow. What about installing one 6x6 post (set in the ground vertically) about 12' high right in the center of the circle, and using it to reinforce the existing bird netting that you have?

 

[bison]

At the top of the post, you could attach some sort of flat piece (plywood? - maybe there is something more weatherproof) in the shape of a circle, maybe 3' in diameter, so that the net doesn't rip on the post at the apex.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

Quote:
I went to a local drywall suppler and bought 4 10' extra heavy duty galvanized studs that are used for commercial framing. Total cost was $26.00 about 3yrs. ago. I just laid it across the top of the kennel run and wired it down. Then I laid my wire across the top of it.
'

Edit: I must be getting tired. I meant to hit "Post Reply" not "Quote". oops...