Building a Hoop Coop: A Versatile Solution for Seasonal Chicken Housing

As the summer season winds down, it’s time to shift our gardening efforts from the daily tasks of watering and harvesting to focus on resting and building the soil. You’ll also want to prepare a comfortable and safe area for your flock to overwinter.

Why not combine efforts by building a temporary hoop coop in your garden? A hoop house, sometimes called a polytunnel, is a semi-circular structure covered with a greenhouse film, typically used to extend the growing season. With the addition of hardware cloth to keep out predators, these structures can also be a bright, warm, and dry space for your chickens.

Versatile and low-cost

“Hoop coops” are a relatively quick and inexpensive way to build a safe structure to house your birds seasonally. With modifications, they can be used year-round. I love that these structures can be built on skids for easy moving, offering more flexibility throughout the year. Since my homestead is only a few years old, I am still expanding and learning as I go. I’m not ready to invest in large, permanent structures. Hoop coop plans can be readily adjusted to create larger structures to accommodate your needs.

Deep Litter Method 

The deep litter method is a great way to efficiently turn your coop bedding into a rich soil amendment for your garden. Since hoop coops are mobile, you can even house your birds directly in your garden for less work in Spring. I prefer to start with a base layer of highly absorbent pine pellets, then add dry leaves, straw, or wasted hay from my goat pen each week. These dry, brown materials provide carbon to balance the high-nitrogen bird droppings. In Winter, I throw sunflower seeds or scratch, giving my birds entertainment and extra calories to stay warm. The aeration of the bedding prevents matting, keeps the moisture consistent, and speeds up the composting process–with the chickens doing all of the heavy lifting! Similar to a compost pile, deep litter can also put off a great deal of heat as it breaks down, providing supplemental heat for your birds on cold nights.

Another option to capture daytime heat is by adding 55-gallon barrels of water to your coop. The sun will heat up the water, then as temperatures drop at night, the barrels will radiate the stored heat. Keep in mind, this will take up some of your floor space so it may not be suitable in small hoop coops

For larger hoop coops, you might add an electric heater such as: carbon fiber heater. Your birds still need access to fresh water, so a heated waterer can come in handy as well. Shop Cold Weather Supplies Here

In spring and summer, my hoop coop is a secure space to raise young birds, or a private area for a broody hen to nest. To prevent overheating, I move my hoop coop to a shady spot, open up both end walls, and add a large shade cloth over the greenhouse plastic.

Materials

You can find several variations and plans online, but a hoop coop can be constructed with basic materials. For mine, I built the frame using two cattle panels, 2x6s and 2x4s. Fencing staples work well to hold the cattle panels in place and corner braces give the frame more stability when skidding to a new location. Hardware cloth is essential to keep out predators. The coop can be finished with greenhouse plastic and an optional shade cloth. Lastly, don’t forget to add roosting bars inside for your chickens or guineas.