The cattle panel hoop house covered with tin horizontally is GREAT! My whacko horned goat has been smacking it for a week and it stands and keeps the rain off of him regardless of his attitude. It's easy, it's fairly cheap, and aside from the huge gash in my hand (took off the glove to tie the tin down...ow!) it was quick. I believe that two of the panels wired together to make 8'x 5 or 6' shelters is optimal.

I just wanted to let you all know that it was a worthwhile expenditure and it doesn't even look bad!

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), February 08, 2002

Answers

Sorry you injured yourself on it. Did you get a tetanus booster like you are supposed to?

What kind of tin did you use and were you able to do something with the edges so the goats won't cut themselve on it?

-- Laura (Ladybugwrangler@hotmail.com), February 08, 2002.

I am recently current on tetanus from a cat bomb...whole nuther story there! Anyway, it is always a good thing to have a tight fitting pair of gloves for these occasions.

I used lightweight galvanized of the corrugated variety. I think it runs about $5 per 8' sections here. To keep the goat safe from cuts I have the edges ***inside*** the frame of the cattle panel. The one I made is only one cattle panel with 50" leftover pieces of tin, but if you use two you need to tie them together with just less than a foot overlapping. Then the eight foot corrugated sheets of tin will fit nicely. There is no surety that a goat wouldn't rip themselves on cattle panel either, but we can't get all the sharp edges out of the world.

I'm just so thrilled to have something that actually works with this goat! Also it will be a great thing for temp and isolation pens without great expense.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), February 08, 2002.

Cat Bomb?!??! Are we blowing up cats now!?!?

Thanks for the info on the hoop shelter. I may want to put one together for a chicken house or goat house or something, but I don't want my horses to cut themselves on it.

-- Laura (Ladybugwrangler@hotmail.com), February 08, 2002.

To cover the edges of the tin you might try splitting an old garden hose on one side and sliding it over the tin edge. We used it to cover the edges of the doors on the wire rabbit cages. For the most part the rabbits left it alone(didn't like the taste). We also used old air hoses( like people use for air tools), that also works. If the pieces of hose are long it's harder for the animals to remove them. The hardest part is spliting the hose without hurting yourself. Be Careful! If you would rather spend money you can have a metal worker roll the edges for you on the tin.

-- Ardith Springer (gaas@ksok.biz), May 24, 2004.

I'm planning to make a 2-panel hoop shelter for the 2 sheep I'll be picking up in a few days. I have a few questions, though....what's the best way to secure the corogated tin to the panels? Also, have any of you put a backside on your hoop shelters? In addition to strengthening the shelter, I figure it would reduce drafts...how would I go about this?

-- Liz (luring-leo@comcast.net), May 29, 2004.

I too love this idea. We just built one for our Collies just to give them some shade. I was also very happy to see that I'm not the only person in the world who is crazy enough to keep a whacko horned goat with an evil attitude as a pet. I have something to contribute about whacko horned goats and cattle panels....keep a pair of bolt cutters handy at all times. I have had to cut my panels several times after the evil one sticks her head through and then can't get it back out because of the horns. Of course we have now covered the panels with smaller mesh wire but I just thought I would mention it in case there are more than two of us out there with horned monsters.

-- Lorraine Schmidt (lorikay@cia-g.com), July 11, 2004.

In answer to Liz's question about the sheep etc,...here is a very nice website with excellent pictures. They have made a chicken coop but it shows clearly how to build the base as well as a back and front panel that can either be solid or have a door. Just building the end walls will add the stabilty your looking for. As well as of course using 4X6's or even railroad ties for the bottom frame.

http://www.plamondon.com/hoophouse.html

Here is another forum with a whole page of very good posts about using cattle panels to build greenhouses. Some good tech tips here. If for some reason the URL doesn't work just go to the Garden Webs Forum main page and type "cattle panel" into their search engine

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/strucs/msg0314202226875.html

After many years of raising goats of all kinds I have to put in my two cents worth about corrugated tin. Any way you look at it it's a dangerous material on a farm.....especially in the hands of the inexperienced. If you really want to use it remember a couple things...try to keep it where it belongs...as roofing. Even then make sure it is fastened securly. You cannot possibly overdo it. If you've never seen it yourself just picture a 50mph wind ripping a tin panel off your shed and sending it flying through a herd of animals. If you must use it for siding or fencing again.....secure it. Do not scrimp on this.....especially at places where it overlaps and along the bottom edges. Contrary to popular (usually urban) belief sheep are not stupid....they get bored and do stupid things though...like spending all night trying to figure out how to pry that tin panel off the side of their shelter. And of course we all know about goats! If there's a way to detroy something or hurt themselves.....and even if we think there's not.....a goat will find it. Keep that in mind when building anything for goats....as well as my previous mention of them sticking their heads through the openings of panels and getting stuck.

-- Lorraine Schmidt (lorikay@cia-g.com), July 12, 2004.