Thought some of you might be interested in a way to put together something for a hen and chicks or a trio or some bantams to live in for the summertime.
I think Sue posted the link to these brackets way back when through Lee Valley.
These brackets are sold in sets of 3 pieces. I used 3 sets to build these 6 ft long tractors. One for each end and one in the middle so 3 ft apart. You could make your sturdier by putting a bracket every two feet but I like mine light and I had originally bought 6 sets thinking I would make a huge one but realized two small ones are more handy.
This is a view of the top triangle type bracket. There are also two that go on the bottom to hold the sides in place.
The instructions told me to make 45 degree angle cuts but i found that if you just cut them a tad shorter they work just fine with straight cuts.
I asked the hardware store to cut 1 x 4s to make me some 1 x 2s.
I used 1 x 3s for the bottom struts though.
1 roll(25 ') of 1/2" hardware cloth covers 1 of these almost perfectly. I put plywood scraps on both sides of 1 end for the "coop"end.
On the right you can see the start of my reinforcement for the door I put in the side on hinges.
These are very light to move, which means you move them often and the bonus is that they are very stable and didnt flip over even in these crazy winds we get.
Here is a pic of the first one I made in use, I will take a final pic of the second one one day here, I made some modifications to it (as always happens when you make two of something!)
This one had handles at the sides instead of the top and I made a door in the wire end. Also, I had put wood all along the top but found chickens always squish up against the edges so had to add the feed bag protection right down to the edge.
I think Sue posted the link to these brackets way back when through Lee Valley.
These brackets are sold in sets of 3 pieces. I used 3 sets to build these 6 ft long tractors. One for each end and one in the middle so 3 ft apart. You could make your sturdier by putting a bracket every two feet but I like mine light and I had originally bought 6 sets thinking I would make a huge one but realized two small ones are more handy.
This is a view of the top triangle type bracket. There are also two that go on the bottom to hold the sides in place.
The instructions told me to make 45 degree angle cuts but i found that if you just cut them a tad shorter they work just fine with straight cuts.
I asked the hardware store to cut 1 x 4s to make me some 1 x 2s.
I used 1 x 3s for the bottom struts though.
1 roll(25 ') of 1/2" hardware cloth covers 1 of these almost perfectly. I put plywood scraps on both sides of 1 end for the "coop"end.
On the right you can see the start of my reinforcement for the door I put in the side on hinges.
These are very light to move, which means you move them often and the bonus is that they are very stable and didnt flip over even in these crazy winds we get.
Here is a pic of the first one I made in use, I will take a final pic of the second one one day here, I made some modifications to it (as always happens when you make two of something!)
This one had handles at the sides instead of the top and I made a door in the wire end. Also, I had put wood all along the top but found chickens always squish up against the edges so had to add the feed bag protection right down to the edge.
