Do I need to raise my chicken coop?

[RebeccaL]

We are using a large wooden dog house for our chicken coop. It is very well built. The floors and walls are insulated. It weighs close to 200 pounds. We thought about putting it on a concrete slab but we rent and not sure that the owners would let us do that. It would be very hard to lift it onto anything else. Do we need to raise it since the floor is insulated? Would love any thoughts on this. THanks!

Rebecca

 

[okieinalaska]

The way it's built now, can anything dig or get underneath it when it's on the ground? If so I would raise it so that nothing wants to live underneath it.

 

[floyd242]

If you're looking for a cheap/temporary solution, you may be able to put it up on some concrete blocks.

 

[RebeccaL]

I did some more reading and realized it had to be raised so that mice or rats don't chew their way in. I think we're going to use concrete blocks to raise it. Thanks for the quick response!

 

[sammin71]

my coop is like 2' off the ground in the back and only 6" in the front i'm hoping that hardware cloth buried and fastened to the base will keep critters from getting underneath it.

 

[Jayers]

Mine is not raised, but I don't have rats in my area. My sister shared a story of how her hens caught a mouse in their pen, very gory and graphic (they fought over it). I would point out that raising it probably won't make it mouse proof, but covering up openings with hardware cloth probably will (make that- "might" make it mouse proof!).