Affordable and Reliable Coop Foundation

[She_Wanted_Chicks]

Brand new to BYC!! I’ve scoured the forum and found a few articles related to foundation choices, but the reality is each person’s opinion is different and they bring knowledge to the table. Besides, some of the posts were from 3-4 years ago.

We’re about 2-4 weeks out from our flock being coop ready - only, we haven’t started building it yet!
We had an old pergola tucked in the back of the property, so we decided to clean up the area and see what we were working with!



Turns out, she cleaned up pretty well and even had some nice pavers buried under the rubbish.



I reinforced her with PT lumber and essentially built the run from there.



Fresh coat of paint, some hardware cloth, a door, more hardware cloth, and voila! 120 sq.ft. of chicken playground.



Night time shot for the rustic hearts.



Anyway, here’s a farther shot and the area where the coop is going to be built.



Now that we’re kind of acquainted with my startup, my next obstacle is a foundation.

The space we’re working with is a decent size and we’re looking to plop a (roughly) 8’ x 10’ walk-in style coop.

We do not want to pay to have a big slab poured, nor do I desire to do that DIY. Originally, my idea was to pour 4 12” concrete footers that would be 2” above ground and 4x6 PT lumber and 2x6 for flooring beams. Build roughly 7’ walls and slap a roof on her to match the run height. Boom. Done.

But the weather down here is temperamental and we’re less than a mile from lagoon and beach access.

What are some easy, affordable, but most importantly reliable ways to anchor a coop to the ground?

Thanks so much in advance for your feedback!!



-Frankie

“About a month ago, my wife texted me "It's Chick Day at Tractor Supply tomorrow! We should get chicks!" And if you're a married man, you know how these things turn out. And here we are.
I swear, she just wanted chicks.”

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya again Frankie. Your links don't work. You should be able to just attach them to your post or a new post.

 

[She_Wanted_Chicks]

Hiya again Frankie. Your links don't work. You should be able to just attach them to your post or a new post.

Hey thanks for the heads up! I think I fixed it I just needed to reattach the photos!!

 

[GXPWeasel]

I built my coop on a gravel bed (because I had it laying around, and it provides good drainage) and I was faced with the same issue of attaching the coop/run to the ground. Here in rural KS, we get several days with wind gusts exceeding 45mph, and storms can pack a bigger punch than that. What I did was purchase 8 of the 36" garden fence posts found a HD or Lowe's, and pounded those puppies into the ground, leaving roughly 4" exposed, and secured the coop and run to those posts with two 3/8" lag bolts (3"long). Making sure where the lag bolts went, was into the actual framing of the subfloor. Oh, and make sure you KNOW where your water/gas/electrical/ethernet cables run if they are underground. You don't want to cut one of those, creating more work/mess for you.

Posts:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbil...nce-Post-with-Anchor-Plate-901153EB/205960881

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I so LOVE what you've done here! Upcycling, using what you have, I just don't even know how to go net new because I've always started that way. All of that said, Can you move the run and put the coop on top of the pavers instead of the run? The pavers will be awkward for chickens. They scratch, constantly, it's what they do. If that's a possibility, I'd do the coop build on top of the pavers but in between my coop floor and pavers (in the event you're not raising it up,) I'd have a layer of hardware cloth attached to the underside and even up along part of the walls, of my coop. This is what I did with railroad ties for foundation. Good Luck!!