Almost done with coop, thoughts?

[Wickedchicki]

We have 3, 4 week old chicks. We converted what was a very nice dog house into our chicken coop. You can lift the roof (hinged) and it's insulated. We made the run around it since we already had a boarder, dirt, etc... It is 8x8. Plan to add an outside perch and a layer of sand to the run this weekend., along with the water system ( 5gal bucket, PVC and nipples). Will post more pictures of the inside later. Plan to just have a couple nesting boxes and a perch. Concerned just because most coops I see are elevated quiet a bit and this is on the ground. Too heavy to lift it off the ground. Thoughts/ suggestions?

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[Sutremaine]

Concerned just because most coops I see are elevated quiet a bit and this is on the ground. Too heavy to lift it off the ground.

Is there room to put a car jack underneath it? How much does it weigh? Are there any bits you could unscrew (or make unscrewable) to reduce the weight?

Do try and elevate the coop. If a chicken can run around underneath it, you're getting a coop's worth of extra floor space.

 

[thomasboyle]

Looks really nice! Get a couple of strapping young guys (pizza works as payment) and you should have no problem lifting one side, slipping some cinder blocks under to elevate it. Repeat side by side until you get it to the height you want. I would go 24" or so. Then you can add 2x4 legs attached to the side of the coop so it can't fall off the blocks. Post more pics when you are done!

 

[Mahlzeit]

Looks really nice but I do agree you should try to get it up off the ground and allow them that extra space to play around in.

 

[youtubeminer]

Get a fence firmed to the ground and the fence needs to be made of iron because docs can bite it open

 

[mikepost]

If you do elevate it, do you have a way to access the inside? You mentioned a hinged roof for inside access.

 

[Wickedchicki]

Is there room to put a car jack underneath it? How much does it weigh? Are there any bits you could unscrew (or make unscrewable) to reduce the weight?

Do try and elevate the coop. If a chicken can run around underneath it, you're getting a coop's worth of extra floor space.

We followed your advice. We lifted it as much as we could, while still being able to lift the roof for access. After lifting it, also had to turn it sideways for when we add the ramp so it's not in way of the door, now that the ramp will be longer due to height. We couldn't raise it much, but I think they can still bury under there a bit. Should have 14" of clearance. Also got some river sand delivered.

 

[thomasboyle]

Very nice! Is that a light by the door? Nice touch!

 

[Wickedchicki]

Yes! Its a little solar light. unfortunately it doesn't work anymore but I think it still looks nice

 

[mikepost]

Looks great!