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.

 

[BigLar368]

Do you plan on connecting the verticle posts together at the bottom like toe/runner boards?

 

[macbow]

Yes. 2x4 all the way around top and bottom to connect the HC, and then another about 3" up where the two runs of HC connect. It will also have a beam structure above for the HC

 

[BigLar368]

The only concern I would have is if you roofed it with say metal roofing then it might act as a sail and you had a good gust of wind come along. Since you are just using HC for the roof that would not even be a concern. I think it would be heavy enough to keep it from shifting any and plenty heavy enough to keep say a dog from pushing it's way in especially if it's 20' x 20'.

I buried my post and concreted them as well but I have some R-panel to shade the run. We get tons of rain and fairly hot weather so I did not want them making mud puddles or exposed to the sun all day.

Be advised though I am not a professional builder or a professional anything other than BS'ing for that matter...lol. I just finished our coop/run week or so ago and we just received our first batch of chick and ducks.

 

[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]

I started out thinking it would be 500 to 700 bucks. Boy was I mistaken. As i get older I try to make things look square and nice/clean. I sided the outside of our coop with cedar pickets then covered the joints with bats that I cut down from the fence pickets. Yes it was expensive but I like to stay busy and that certainly helps. I started in Feb/March and was just going to go to the feed store. Seems like this virus scared everyone into chicken farmers. I ended up ordering online and it took almost 3 months to get them. I am glad it did cause it gave me plenty of time to finish everything the way I wanted.

 

[macbow]

How come it took 3 months? We order online mid April and had ours in a few days. We got 10 ISA Browns. When the coop is up I am going to order some Australorps as well.

 

[BigLar368]

I chose the most economical site to order from. I found shipping rates very high at some places. Also when i thought about it it made better sense to order and have them come in during the summer because the weather is warmer and it also gave me plenty of time to finish the coop and run.

 

[macbow]

Where did you end up ordering from? We went online through Tractor Supply and who use Hoover Hatchery. I think it cost just under $4/chicken, shipping included.

 

[BigLar368]

https://www.chickensforbackyards.com/

Tractor Supply did not have exactly what we wanted. I wanted the exact chickens and ducks that I though would do best around our parts. Most sites would also not ship the ducks and chickens together so I would have had to pay double shipping. The 12 chickens and 4 ducks we ordered only cost $20 to ship. I think we paid around $4 per chicken all females and $11 per duck all females.