Coop design: dirt or raised floor?

[Ridgerunner]

Put overhang with that tin and leave open areas under the overhang, the more the better. Just cover it the open areas with wire to keep predators out. And make your roof high enough that the roosts have some separation. During the day it will get hot but at night when they are sleeping it won’t be too bad. Tin can work even in hot climates like yours but you need plenty of ventilation up high and down low plus build it tall. If you build it tight and small, yeah, that could be bad in the sun like you have, but big and open works well. Horse loafing sheds are often built out of metal, roof and three sides with the fourth side open. You could easily do that with a coop where you are, three solid sides with the fourth side wire. Save some money on the wire side.

I also just added plain clay dirt to my coop floor, just built it up so rainwater runoff can’t come in. I also put in a swale on the uphill side to divert rainwater away from the coop.

I think an open area section next to your existing coop is a great way to go. Chickens don’t worry if the space is in a formal living room, a den, or a game room with bath. They just need extra space they can use when they are awake. It doesn’t matter if it is in a coop, coop and run, or some other combination. Just make sure the space is available and they will do great.

I’ve seen chickens sleep in trees in below zero weather. They were not sleeping on a bare limb overlooking a bluff squawking defiantly in the teeth of a blizzard. They were in a protected valley in a thicket where they could move around to get out of a direct wind. They really can handle cold really well. Your heat is much more dangerous that zero degree weather if they have just a tiny bit of protection.

 

[4 the Birds]

4 the Birds,

Your pictures are so helpful! We *usually* don't have too many super-cold winter nights, but this last winter was pretty cold for Georgia. I think we dropped below 0F a few times. Do you have a picture of the wood panels you add in the winter? I'm assuming you mean plywood, yes? (I'm just wondering if I'd need to add these, too - I imagine Indiana is a bit colder than Georgia in the wintertime.)

My other question is about your pallets. Don't they rot? We actually have a pallet floor in our coop, but the pallets are on concrete blocks and so they're raised off the ground by about 8-10 inches. I am really intrigued by your suggestion; I'm not sure I'd put the pallets in the whole open side of the coop, but I would definitely do a portion of it.

You've given me a few more ideas, and I am anxious to get started! I am planning to use some tin sheets for the roof - probably the economy sheets unless someone thinks I'll regret it.

Two Acres.... I use beadboard instead of plywood. Beadboard costs about 20 dollars for a 4x8 sheet and can be found at Lowes or Home Depot. One side comes with a baked paint that is very durable for exterior applications. The panel edges are grooved so that you can overlap panels for a wall or roof. I use them for the walls and roof. Metal or tin is better for roofing if you can go that route. A cheaper option instead of beadboard would be to use 3/8" plywood but you may need to paint the exterior side to repel rain and mold (about 8 dollars per board). I simply used wood pallets for the flooring in the "open coop" area and then nailed scrap beadboard on top of the pallets. Over that a think layer of floor bedding and it makes for a quick and durable floor. The pallets may rot after many years but if you have concerns then you can always build a floor of pre treated deck boards. Good Luck!

Raised Wood Deck Coop Floor


Exterior Nest Boxes (insulated against heat/cold)

 

[Blooie]

My coop and run floor are both dirt. No problems and the deep litter method is working well in both. You could reconsider the "hoop coop" set up. That's what we did for our run. We drove 8 metal fence posts deep into the ground, then secured 3 cattle panels to them. We covered the open ends with welded wire fence and covered the entire thing with chicken wire wired tightly to that against our many overhead predators. Hardware cloth was the most expensive part of our setup, but we knew chicken wire alone would be virtually useless and no matter what design we settled on we would have had that expense anyway. The hardware cloth goes up almost 2 feet on the chicken wire sides, then extends over a foot outward at the bottom as an apron. We quite literally sewed it to the chicken wire AND the crosspieces in the cattle panel. It is sewn through the top, the middle and the bottom. We also ran hardware cloth all the way around the coop and extending up the coop, securing that with large washers and screws. We also get hurricane force winds here in Northern Wyoming year round. A small community not too far from us, Clark, WY., had wind gusts of 110 mph back in March of this year.

We weren't quite finished with the run/coop setup but the chickens were already out there so we had to work around them. That was fun - yeah, right! We had one particularly bright day and wanted a quick shade over the run, since our trees hadn't leafed out yet. So we tossed a roll of landscape fabric over in a couple of places and just wired it in temporarily. Well, that temporarily worked so well that it is now attached permanently, even though the trees are now casting some shade. I was surprised that it actually shed rain quite well...but if you've ever watered an area with landscape fabric you've noticed that at first the water just pools on top for a few minutes before it begins to seep down. With the shape of the hoop, it pooled and ran off before it had a chance to soak through, and because the fabric is permeable it handles the wind better than tarps. Bonus for us - it's cheap, and if a section gets ripped it's not the end of the world.






Yep, snow in May!

 

[Matthfoster]

We are building a raised floor coop 15x7 and wondering any pointers for easy cleaning.

Thanks

 

[tbiM20]

We have heavy clay here, too, and it's been very wet. The only thing that concerns me is that it wouldn't really be easy to get a compacter into the covered coop area. Will it compact over time, though?

Sorry for the late reply! I'm guessing by now you've already figured out what you want to do, but to answer your question:

There's a few options for compacting: the plate compactor (push mower size), the tamping rammer (like a jackhammer), and the hand compactor (a pole with a square plate on the end). We typically use the tamping rammer for the 12x12ft stalls... it's a bit less cumbersome to move around than the plate compactor, and a lot less effort than the hand tool. Yes it should compact over time without any tools, just not as quickly and it may be a bit uneven (more quickly where you walk most) though probably not by much. So, if you choose to use the gravel then it'd be best to put a shallow layer, let it compact in, then just add a little more if/when/where you need it. That way a nice floor is maintained rather than walking on a thick layer of loose gravel for the next year or two while it all settles.