Coop foundation question

[macbow]

I am about to start building a coop. I wanted to ask the experienced builders in here about my idea of sitting the whole coop and run on solid cinder blocks. I saw someone's coop somewhere on here and they had not put their posts in the ground, but rather had set the whole structure on concrete blocks. The run will be 20' x 20', with an 8' x 8' coop joined to one corner. I am making the run a bit over 6' high, with the whole thing covered sides and top with hardware cloth. I will have beams across the top of the run to tie the HC down to, so all in all, there should be a fair bit of weight to it. The HC will be dropped down into the ground about 6", along with attaching an apron to the bottom. The blocks I am planning on using to sit it all on are 8" wide, 4" tall and 16" long. Is this a good idea or a dumb idea? I live in TX just north of Dallas about an hour.

 

[blackdog043]

I never made a coop build thread, but mine is up on cap blocks, here's a few pictures. The coop is 8 x 12. these are 4 x 4's

 

[rosemarythyme]

I saw someone's coop somewhere on here and they had not put their posts in the ground, but rather had set the whole structure on concrete blocks.

So you can't see it very well from my coop photos, but mine is set up like this. I had a shed company build and install mine and the owner said he does all of his sheds like this, to keep them elevated away from ground moisture and to make them moveable (people have moved and taken their sheds with them).

So it goes concrete block, then pressure treated skids, then the floor and the body of the coop goes on top of that. Bottom of coop sits about 5-6" off the ground.

Cheap eggs get expensive pretty quick! Lol!

This is why your very first egg will be a thousand dollar egg... CHickens are cheap. Everything else is expensive.

 

[macbow]

Thank you. We weren't so smart and got the chickens first! I had no idea what a task it is for a non builder to even design the coop how I want it. It is one thing to look at what other people have done...it is another thing to figure out the required building materials and how you are going to put it all together. Then trying to source the materials without it costing an arm and a leg. Cheap eggs get expensive pretty quick! Lol!

 

[BigLar368]

We are in Southeast Texas. We order a pair of each of these: Golden Comets, Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Austerlops, and Barred Rocks. At the same time I ordered 4 Welsh Harlequin ducks. I picked up a pair or Golden Sex Links and a pair of White Leghorns the morning I picked up the ordered birds.

 

[macbow]

Oh wow! That's quite the variety. I just researched the best laying and best minded chickens and the ISA Browns seemed to rate up there highly. People seem to be pretty big on the Australorps too for both laying and nature, and since I am originally from Australia I figured I need to support the home country a little, so they are my next lot I am getting.

 

[FFCB]

My coop is bolted onto cinder blocks. I have the cinder blocks along the entire perimeter and stacked two deep in the ground. I dug down to hard earth and filled the inside of the coop footprint 12 inches deep with riverbed sand. I use a sand shifting shovel to scoop the dried poop out. It seems to cut down on flies. I know I should compost, but I don't garden that much.

 

[FFCB]

I set some remnant flag stones on top to cap the cinder blocks and then used metal screws. This looks pretty good - https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/reviews/g1314/how-to-fasten-anything-to-concrete/

 

[macbow]

So you can't see it very well from my coop photos, but mine is set up like this. I had a shed company build and install mine and the owner said he does all of his sheds like this, to keep them elevated away from ground moisture and to make them moveable (people have moved and taken their sheds with them).

So it goes concrete block, then pressure treated skids, then the floor and the body of the coop goes on top of that. Bottom of coop sits about 5-6" off the ground.



This is why your very first egg will be a thousand dollar egg... CHickens are cheap. Everything else is expensive.

Thank you. Nice coop! Mine won't be that fancy. Seems like what I want to do will work.

 

[BigLar368]

We eat a LOT of eggs, so if these chickens only gave us 3 eggs a day after the money we put into them they wouldn't be too popular with me! Lol! I never thought I would have enjoyed chickens so much though. They really are cool little creatures.

I am looking forward to the eggs. I know we will be getting way more than three a day. I am more excited about the duck eggs. When I was a kid we would go to my grandfathers house in Louisiana and he would have me a couple dozen mallard eggs. I can still remember how they tasted. I love over easy eggs and we bake a lot so ducks eggs will be a warm welcome. Plus we have a garden and this year we have a bunch of bug invasions that absolutely ruined our tomatoes. Looking forward to turning them out in the garden next spring to see what they can do.