Coop up or down?

[VinDeb]

I see some folks use a chicken tractor and have their chickens down on the ground with a large run. I see so many coop designs where chickens are up high in a coop. My husband said he heard a chicken keeper say chickens like hunkering down on the ground. But I've never heard this. So what makes a chicken happier, down on the ground for nesting or up in a coop?

 

[Buffbrahmasforever]

I see some folks use a chicken tractor and have their chickens down on the ground with a large run. I see so many coop designs where chickens are up high in a coop. My husband said he heard a chicken keeper say chickens like hunkering down on the ground. But I've never heard this. So what makes a chicken happier, down on the ground for nesting or up in a coop?

How long are you planning to keep birds? If you where raising meat birds a chicken tractor would be best, but if you are raising layers and a long time flock then you probably want a full coop. It doesn't have to be raised off the ground. In fact I think a coop that extends all the way to the ground or is only raised a little(like our coop) is better. It gives the birds more space to fly off of perches and allows you to fully access it, which is a big plus. Birds also don't prefer hunkering down on the ground. They prefer perching on perches above the ground.

 

[DobieLover]

I see some folks use a chicken tractor and have their chickens down on the ground with a large run. I see so many coop designs where chickens are up high in a coop. My husband said he heard a chicken keeper say chickens like hunkering down on the ground. But I've never heard this. So what makes a chicken happier, down on the ground for nesting or up in a coop?

Up. Their instinct tells them to roost high.
Only mother hens with heat dependant chicks or sick birds hunker down on the ground.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

I would say that most like to go high, as high as they can go. I had to change our roosts around because they were sleeping on the rafters. I didn't know they would go that high. There wasn't enough room for all of them, so I had to add "rafters" for the rest of them.

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

Depends on the chicken. Two of my silkies like to sleep huddled together on the floor in a corner so I put a pile of chips there to make the comfy. I thought they would start laying there but they did not, they still go to the nesting box which is raised to lay.
My black production hen likes to roost about two feet off the ground and my leghorns like to go as high up as they can , even higher than the top roosting bar where they really don't look comfortable.

 

[DobieLover]

Depends on the chicken. Two of my silkies like to sleep huddled together on the floor in a corner so I put a pile of chips there to make the comfy. I thought they would start laying there but they did not, they still go to the nesting box which is raised to lay.
My black production hen likes to roost about two feet off the ground and my leghorns like to go as high up as they can , even higher than the top roosting bar where they really don't look comfortable.

Yeah but Silkies aren't real chickens

 

[VinDeb]

My girls are layers. Thanks so much for the replies. Most of the coop/roost/run designs I have seen do have the "sleeping area" (roost??) up off the ground and with doors to close and ventilation. So I wasn't sure what he had been watching or where those coops are or if they were layers or meat chickens. It makes sense that they might like on the ground in the winter so there isn't cold air underneath them. But I don't know, this is my first flock.

 

[Sonya9]

They like to roost higher up but spend most of the day running around or resting on the ground. Also depends on the age/breed, heavier mature layers don't climb/fly up as well as some of the smaller/lighter birds.

Most chickens want a nice large ground area to peck around in and avoid each other if needed, and higher night time roosts to avoid predators. Many really like lower daytime roosts too.

 

[VinDeb]

How long are you planning to keep birds? If you where raising meat birds a chicken tractor would be best, but if you are raising layers and a long time flock then you probably want a full coop. It doesn't have to be raised off the ground. In fact I think a coop that extends all the way to the ground or is only raised a little(like our coop) is better. It gives the birds more space to fly off of perches and allows you to fully access it, which is a big plus. Birds also don't prefer hunkering down on the ground. They prefer perching on perches above the ground.

Keeping them until they die!

 

[VinDeb]

Well we've got some of it right! We made the classic mistake of getting the chicks before having the coop finished. A neighbor gave us a partially built coop, which we added a run to. But the hubs never completed the sleeping area, I'm not sure if they sleep on the ground or the daytime roosts. I've been after him to complete the sleeping area, build the ramp for them. But he hasn't done it yet, then he came up with that bit of info of they like to be on the ground yesterday. There is a set of nesting boxes to one side about 18" off the ground, but it has a heavy door on top that you raise up to get the eggs, but just watched a YouTube chicken lady say they don't like that, as it startles them if they are on the nest. They do have a daytime roost area with rods about 2' off the ground. They like to watch for us to come out. The hubs has a sheet of plywood over the door, has yet to make me a door where I can get in and tend to them. but he goes out in the morning to let them out into the yard for a while and watches over them so the neighbor's cat won't hurt them. Or the hawks that live in the area. And to keep them out of the garden, crazy birds got some of my largest tomatoes.