Raised coop or coop on the ground? Pros and cons?

[Alaskan]

Thank you all for your advice! We rescheduled and aren't meeting with Amish until later next week so we have a few more days to figure out plans. As for the strange city rules, it's a very small village and it's been a YEARS long ordeal just to get chickens allowed at all, so at this point I'll take the silly rules! Husband and I have a 5 year plan to purchase some acreage and build our dream house which will include many more chickens so I'm just starting small for now. Other rules include no roosters and a max of 3 chickens, but we own a double lot so we can have up to 6. That means for the next several years this coop will never need to hold more than 6 chickens. As for location, I will get on updating that! I live in Michigan, so it gets pretty chilly and has a possibility of snow usually mid Nov-early March. But I do live in an area of MI that doesn't get tons of depth of snow because we're so far from the great lakes. I'd say we almost never have more than 6 inches on the ground at a time. I think after considering all the advice I've gotten here I'm leaning toward expanding the coop slightly to 5x5 to get a little more square footage and having it set on the ground and be 5ft tall. As for the run, we're building that ourselves and have space so can really make that any size needed. I think we were discussing a 6x12ft run, but that can always be adjusted. We also have a nearly half acre backyard that is fully enclosed with a privacy fence so I intend to let them roam the yard nearly every day for a couple hours while I'm out there once the weather permits, probably 8 months per year I'd guess. I do want them to be comfy in the cold dark winter months too, so let me know if you think any of this plan is lacking anything!

Since you are so far north I like the 5x5 for 5 hens, a 5x6 for 6 hens. Wire the coop so that you can have lights on a timer. With short days that are also cold it is difficult for chickens to get enough to eat. With a bit extra light so that they have more time to eat, it is easier for them to maintain their weight even in the cold.

I would have at least 5x8 of the run roofed, so nice especially with snow or icy rain.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Given the restrictions I agree that having it on the ground/very close to ground level is the better choice, just to give you more vertical space to work with. Still going to make it tougher on you to go in and clean (unless you're really tiny!) but squeezing into 5' is still easier than 3'.

 

[PirateGirl]

A few thoughts. We built approximately a 4'x5' raised coop that was initially for up to 5 chickens. The coop is approximately 2 feet off the ground. Inside the highest part of the ceiling is about 3 feet high. I have lived with this design for a few years now which sounds very similar to what you are planning. If you cannot make a walk in coop, I feel that a raised coop can be easier to clean, easier to collect eggs, etc. as things are at a level that are easy to work on and you do not need to be bent over or on your hands and knees in snow, in mud, in chicken poop, in your nice clothes, etc. My roost bar runs the long direction so it is 5 feet long for up to 5 chickens; it is positioned in the middle of the coop, so about 2 feet in front to a wall and 2 feet behind to a wall and about 18 inches from the floor, but still 18 inches below the ceiling which gives all the birds space to roost and turn around with bumping into things and being cramped (they can walk under roosts without hitting their heads or be on the roost without touching the ceiling or a wall). The chickens hang out in the space under the coop often; they enjoy the shade it provides on sunny days, it also provides shelter from rain and a spot that is relatively free of snow.

This is the part I would do differently... The area beneath my coop is fenced so that it is part of the run, I routinely wish I had an access panel/gate to easily reach the area under the coop. It's next to impossible to catch a chicken down there, and they know it and will hide in a corner furthest from my reach. Also randomly the feeder or something will get kicked under there.

I don't mind that my coop is not walk in, the girls seem to have enough room inside and I can do what I need to, but I desperately wish the run was tall enough that I could walk in and stand in it. It is a pain doing any sort of maintenance to the run and I hate my run which is about 3 feet tall with fencing or a roof over the top.

 

[Apocalypse]

Oh dear. I have major issues with nonsense rules and restrictions.
My city bylaw tried to insist I get a building permit for my coop... yeah no.
I have a 20 foot restriction from coop to house here... Building my second coop now. But lawful space doesnt leave many options here as I'm in the middle of the city. Seems like a no brainer to put this one on wheels and keep it wherever I want. Bylaw comes around and I can roll it over a few feet and say "there, everyone safe now??"
In your case i would totally do raised coop. That way, rats and mice don't nest under it. It doubles and overlaps your available/appropriate sq. foot/chicken for coop AND run too.

And i would build that thing 4 or 5 feet tall on adjustble 3 foot legs. If bylaw comes around, you crank that baby down to legal height and say: "there, everyone safe now?"