Coop opinions

[Shadrach]

How high would you say would be the acceptable height to deter rodents but also let some Barred rocks hang out underneath?

I used to allow 600mm, about 2 foot and that was tall enough for the Marans rooster in my sig picture to get under, so that should be fine for your Barred Rocks.

 

[Greaner_pastures]

I used to allow 600mm, about 2 foot and that was tall enough for the Marans rooster in my sig picture to get under, so that should be fine for your Barred Rocks.

Good to know, thank you for the advice!

 

[Greaner_pastures]

Fixed! Soooo can I get three of you
To make your way over so we can lift it now?

 

[Greaner_pastures]

You won't need that many nest boxes. They'll mostly all lay eggs in the same box so you could increase the floor space a bit by taking out one partition and the front ledge.
Given you're going to have to repair the legs take the opportunity to get the coop well above ground height. At the current height any rodents can get busy gnawing their way in unseen. A couple of foot off the ground is good, more if you can make it stable. Heavy legs fixed to the outside running up the coop walls a couple of feet could work well. You would of course have to add a ramp, but if it's high enough for the hens to get under you've got a weather shelter thrown in.

Just got rid of two of the boxes so now instead of four it’s two with a little added floor space thanks for the advice!

 

[Shadrach]

Just got rid of two of the boxes so now instead of four it’s two with a little added floor space thanks for the advice!

I must write that apart from the rot in the legs that is in my opinion a better coop than many I've seen pictures of. Your main problem now is making it stable in the face of stiff winds.

 

[Greaner_pastures]

I must write that apart from the rot in the legs that is in my opinion a better coop than many I've seen pictures of. Your main problem now is making it stable in the face of stiff winds.

Appreciate that. Now to get pallets and get their run up. I was thinking about temporarily putting aviary netting up for the roof just to safe a few bucks and buying plywood next month and getting a real roof up which I already have shingles and the paper for the roof.. The rest of the run will be wrapped in 1/2" hardware cloth. Including around their coop so they have access under. Any tips to laying out hardware cloth to avoid diggers? I was thinking about skirting it out the bottom about 3-6 inches, would that be enough?

 

[GCrumb]

Lazy man's wind solution -- drive steel t-posts on either side of where it's gonna be, slide it into place and then bolt it to the posts.

 

[Greaner_pastures]

Lazy man's wind solution -- drive steel t-posts on either side of where it's gonna be, slide it into place and then bolt it to the posts.

I mean I honestly wasn’t going to do anything cause the thing weighs like 400 pounds lol.

 

[3KillerBs]

I was thinking about skirting it out the bottom about 3-6 inches, would that be enough?

No, you need 12-24" for an anti-dig apron.

What you need is to have the predator standing on the wire trying to dig through it. Otherwise they'll just go under it.

This is also why you don't want to put pavers on top of the wire -- they'll dig at the edge of the pavers and go under it.

 

[Greaner_pastures]

No, you need 12-24" for an anti-dig apron.

What you need is to have the predator standing on the wire trying to dig through it. Otherwise they'll just go under it.

This is also why you don't want to put pavers on top of the wire -- they'll dig at the edge of the pavers and go under it.

yea I wasn’t gunna put the pavers over the cloth, I figured as much that they might just dig right there. I was sorta thinking after I got the coop on pavers to dig around the coop about 6-12 inches down and bury 2x4 around the perimeter with the cloth going to that. Then from the new legs down and out id skirt it out (now at least a foot). Can I use this chicken wire I have FOR ANYTHING?? Lol seems like such a waste! I wish they would call it something else so they don’t trick the noobs like me into thinking it’s enough lol!