Building coop over concrete...

[bb orpington]

Hi all. I recently moved to a house with very little grass, but a good amount of concrete. I know that chickens require dirt, or something to dig in, so I was wondering if it's possible to build foundations over the concrete, fill it with dirt, and then build a coop over it. Meaning roughly 7 inches of dirt above the concrete.

The main issue I am here to ask is, will drainage be a problem, I can implement drainage holes in the foundations, but unsure if that would be enough?

Cheers

 

[aart]

Might depend on the concrete, how big it is, and how it is sloped.
You don't want water running in under all the dirt.
Might be able to concrete, or use adhesive, the foundation blocks to the concrete pad to make it water tight.

Some pics of the site might help garner solutions/suggestions.
How big a coop and how many birds you'd like to have.

Also, as always, knowing...
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[bb orpington]

Might depend on the concrete, how big it is, and how it is sloped.
You don't want water running in under all the dirt.
Might be able to concrete, or use adhesive, the foundation blocks to the concrete pad to make it watertight.

Some pics of the site might help garner solutions/suggestions.
How big a coop and how many birds you'd like to have.

Also, as always, knowing...
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 2113101

The concrete is not sloped. I was thinking of drainage holes in the foundations.

The coop will be around 5 x 9 feet. Going to have 2-4 hens.

I'm in Christchurch New Zealand. It very rarely snows, and the occasional rainy day per week.

And don't I need to provide drainage, so the water soaks through the dirt when raining. Instead of making it entirely watertight.

A picture of the area:

Thanks

 

[NatJ]

You probably do not need dirt. A dish of grit available to the chickens will take care of the only thing they need real "dirt" for (to grind food in their gizzards.)

A nice layer of deep bedding/litter on top of the concrete will give them plenty to scratch and forage through. Chickens are pretty good at turning dirt into a hard surface that resembles concrete--so I think adding dirt would be a lot of work for not much gain.

If you put raised edges (foundation) around the concrete, then you probably will want to allow some kind of drainage, unless there's a roof over the entire area to keep the rain out.