chicken tractor/hoop house
This is a chicken "tractor/hoop house" I built myself. I used 1" diameter pvc piping and 1x2x8's of non pressure treated wood and made a basic frame. The tractor is 8ftx4 feet. I don't have specific plans. I pretty much eyeballed the whole thing together. You can find tons of plans online if you need them.
Pvc piping was fastened to the sides with pipe fitting brackets then the entire coop was covered with chicken wire. It's bottom less which allows me to do the following:
- chickens can free range and also fertilize the soil
- chickens are protected from predators
- covers raised beds and keeps out rabbits and deer
- can be used as a crop in the winter as "hoop house" (simply cover with plastic sheeting)
You can purchase plastic sheeting at local hardware stores. I prefer at least 4-6 millimeter in thickness.
Through trial and error, I've made modifications. The above photo is one of the first hoop houses I made last fall. The pvc piping is directly fastened to the beds.
Below is recent one I'm building. I've made the dimensions to fit over my raised beds. Rather than fastening the pvc to the actual raised beds, these are portable and will fit pretty much right inside the beds. I simply lift them over whatever beds I choose or use them for portable chicken tractors/coops.
The pullets in the above photo are in a hoop house I built covered with chicken wire. The chicken wire adds extra support to the frame and plastic sheeting when needed.
Notice I have tarp covering a portion of the hoop. It keeps the chickens cool in the summer and makes the coop cozy.
Here are some photos and links of hoop houses. Sizes can vary from very small 4x4 hoops to huge housing structures.
Hoop house (wikipedia)
This is a photo of a hoop house I found online....
