Using PVC for a hoop house?

[JStillwaters]

I am in the endless planning for a similar project. I am wondering if your dimensions are what caused the pipe to not hoop correctly. I wish I could do the math :-(

 

[Murphy212]

Collen at Pan Eden Farms:
you said "All other pens have been just electrical (grey) pvc and syp strips ( 1x4) 14Ft long ( cost about $3.00 each) to eliminate the need for connectors which greatly increase the cost. covered with chicken wire attached by staples to the wood. If kept low to the ground, even our Florida wind isn't a problem-( rivals the wind in Kansas any day! but is NOT tornado proof)
The reason for electrical pvc is for the UV resistance that the white does not have.
you can build a 8x6 or 4x10 with 3 syp strips, one roll of 3 or 4 ft chciken wire and 6 pvc pipes - cost around $50 -that is portable and easily managed by one woman without dollys or wheels. After my chicks are too big for hawks I start to let them out to day graze each day. all layers are day grazed and penned at night."

What you built is exactly what I am looking for. But what are "syp strips"? I want smaller 4 x 4 or 5 x 5 portable pens that I can move around. As a woman, I need to be able to do it by myself and wheels just won't work on my ground. I want to be able to confine the chicks in certain areas on different days and then move them moved back to their Coop/Run for the night and on days when I can't move them out to other areas of the property.
Their main job is for weed and bug control and I want to be able to determine where and when that will be....I am home all day so they would be watched while in the portable locations.
Thanks for any info....this is my first chicken adventure and my little ones are just 2 weeks old.
Murphy

 

[JakesHappyHenHouse]

I have a large coop build from PVC and wood. At some point the PVC will become brittle and we'll have to rebuild the whole thing. Wood is much more durable and it's also more expensive. I'm hoping by the time this coop wears out I'll have the money to build a nicer coop (the way things are going that doesn't look good). We used green house plans and instead of wrapping it in plastic, we wrapped it in 1" galvanized poultry netting (chicken wire). It works very well for our climate and doesn't look half bad.

BTW, the corrugated panels now go to the ground, I just don't have a recent picture. We also don't get more than a few inches of snow at a time which melts quickly. The weight of more than a few inches of snow would surely crush this coop.

Did you use PVC going perpendicularly along the top of the arch to reinforce? I can’t tell from this picture. It looks great! We’re planning something similar but covered with hardware cloth as we’re in a very high predator area.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Did you use PVC going perpendicularly along the top of the arch to reinforce? I can’t tell from this picture. It looks great! We’re planning something similar but covered with hardware cloth as we’re in a very high predator area.

Sadly that poster has not been logged on since March of 2012.

While PVC can be bent it comes as 10' lengths and is much more susceptible to weather damage.

It is worth it to use the cattle panels.

 

[JakesHappyHenHouse]

Sadly that poster has not been logged on since March of 2012.

While PVC can be bent it comes as 10' lengths and is much more susceptible to weather damage.

It is worth it to use the cattle panels.

I'm not sure what you mean about the cattle panels- do you mean for structure? I was thinking about using the grey PVC as it is UV resistant and then covering with hardware cloth because the openings are smaller than cattle panels. Thanks for your help!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I'm not sure what you mean about the cattle panels- do you mean for structure? I was thinking about using the grey PVC as it is UV resistant and then covering with hardware cloth because the openings are smaller than cattle panels. Thanks for your help!

A cattle panel gives you the support, lots more places to attach additional wire and makes it tall enough to enter......

A couple links to give a good visual....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/ms-biddys-cattle-panel-hoop-coop.73755/

 

[OlympicChick]

This is my coop when it was under construction. I used 1/4" hardware cloth. I spaced out the hoops so that the edges of the hardware cloth would overlap a little bit. There may have been one seem that didn't overlap and I just cut a strip of hardware cloth to cover the (negligible) gap.