Do you HAVE to put posts of an elevated coop in concrete???

[Tigerjane]

yep, like the subject line says:
Is it necessary to put the posts of an elevated coop in concrete?

 

[MoSo]

Depends on your soil (and frost heave) but you can put the posts ON concrete (as in blocks) as well. Where I am, it's so dry that even though we have snow in winter, I could have gotten away with putting the posts directly in soil, but I put them on concrete blocks just to be safe.

 

[patandchickens]

Not unless you have unstable soil and/or it is going to be a *large* (or just heavy) coop.

For a typical small coop, as long as the posts are deeply/well-set into stable soil, I'd skip the concrete.

Although, if severe storm winds are an issue, concrete does help anchor things.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Tigerjane]

How deep would you recommend burying the posts?

And another dumb question: what do you all use to cut the hardware cloth?

 

[gryeyes]

I use wire snips. It is a labor-intensive project. Snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, ad nauseum. Shake out my wrist. Smoke a cigarette. Gaze off into space, watch a chicken do something. Start up again. Snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip.

Wear gloves, by the way.

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

Quote:
My DH digs down 2' for the posts IF there are no huge rocks in the way.

We try to buy the width of hardware cloth that we need so we don't have to cut too much. My husband has a cordless tool that cuts it...need to wear face guard.

 

[patandchickens]

If frostline is not an issue, I would sink them no less than 2' deep. More if it is sandy soil. Deeper is always better.

To cut hardwarecloth I use leather gloves and the giant big huge snips I bought for cutting 26-gauge roof tin. They were about $25 I think, some years ago. They are a great big nuisance to use but the fastest way to cut the stuff.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[95yj]

if you use tin snips it isn't that bad, also a word of advise, cut the piece of wire to size before putting it on, especially if your doing a window or something, it may not clip nearly as easily or nicely after its on.

 

[St-Hubert]

I'm in Alabama....hot damp summers and cool winters. I sunk our treated posts (painted first) maybe 1-2 feet into the ground that was already pretty solidly packed. The coop was built from the top down (underneath a porch), and most of the weight is borne by the one actual porch-post I built around, but the extra posts mean it's a little more stable....and we can climb in it without fear of collapse if necessary.
Granted, the coop has only been in existence about four months now, but we have not had any problems with it. I think I will put the posts of the next coop on blocks this time and build from the bottom up.

Quote:
Definitely concur on the wearing of gloves. The only thing I have to add to this is the ocassional curse and rummaging around for a bandaid.

 

[rrgrassi]

Quote:
I'm east of Dallas, so we do not have a frost line to deal with. You being close to San Antonio, even better.

I have my coop on concrete paver blocks and it is made out of the green treated lumber.

I would only bury the poles and concrete them in if I was making a permanent structure.