Does the Bottom of the Coop Need to be "on" the Ground?

[ILoveEggs]

I'm building a chicken house with a coop underneath (at least I think I am lol). I'm considering hanging the coop instead of taking it all the way down to the ground. Is there any pro/con to doing this? I'd likely either put a nice heavy wire bottom (something that wouldn't hurt their feet) or even considered making the bottom solid with bedding. Thank you for all of your input!

BTW, this is my first post and I'm excited. I've been lurking on your forum for a while now.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some people use wire for floors on raised coops and some don't. I don't so I have no experience with whether it hurts their feet of not.

About raising the coop floor, I don't know how big a coop you are talking about so some of my comments may not apply.

If you raise the floor, remember you may have to get under there someday, especially if you allow your chickens access to that area. I'd have it high enough that I did not have to crawl in chicken poop to get under there. If you only raise it a few inches, a raised floor gives mice and rats a great place to hang out and eat chicken feed.

A raised floor could give them some nice shade.

Whether it is raised or not, you will need to clean it and work in it. Think about how you will clean it, treat if for roost mites, gather eggs, change bedding or nesting material, whatever. Make sure you have lots of access. That said, a small raised coop with good access is probably easier to clean.

Depending on how you build it and your management practices, a raised coop may be easier or harder to predator proof.

A raised coop does not have flooding or muddy floor problems as long as you build a watertight roof and sides.

If it is big enough that you need to get inside, it will require strong supports.

I find a coop on the ground easier to build in place.

Any coop needs to withstand wind load. It's easier to anchor a coop built on the ground against wind. Size and your location factor into this.

A raised coop probably won't rot out as soon as one built on the ground, whether wire or wood.

A raised coop is probably colder in winter. Depends on where you live whether this is important.

The more accesses and openings you have, the harder it is to draft-proof a coop. A raised coop normally requires more accesses.

About all I can think if. Hopefully others will come up with pros and cons for you.

 

[DawnSuiter]

My contribution to your thought process is this...

If its ON the ground and you build a floor, things like MICE can live under there in that small space.

So.. if ON the ground I don't use a floor anymore, I just use the ground... or a concrete pad would work too

If OFF the ground, then give yourself at least a couple feet to be able to work under there, and that will help prevent any OTHER critters from moving in.

 

[saddina]

Mine is raised 2ft, and the birds have the area underneath as part of thier run. Seemed to take them a little longer to figure out how to use the walk down ramp (like an attic ladder, it pops out of a hole in the floor upstairs). Just be sure to put in a door to rake under and such.

 

[newchicksnducks]

I think there is a miscommunication of terms. You say you are building a chicken house on top of a coop. Do you mean the chicken house (or coop) is being built on top of a run or pen? I always refer to the coop as the place I "coop up" or enclose my birds for the night - a secure wooden structure. My run is a fenced in area that I let my birds run around during the day if they are not free-ranging our yard. That being said...

The purpose of a run is to allow your birds free time outside of the coop. By hanging your run, it would allow you to clean it easier. But the chickens enjoy scratching in the dirt, looking for bugs and acting like typical birds. I feel a bird kept off the ground for it's entire life would not be as happy or as healthy as one allowed freedom to scratch and play on the ground.

 

[saddina]

I think she means a townhouse style with coop on top and run under.

I think, but it's early and the iced coffee hasn't kicked in.

 

[ILoveEggs]

Wow! Thank you all for your replies. I do mean the enclosed area on top and the run underneath. They'd use an attic ladder to go to the run.

So if the run is not on the ground, poop and such falls through, assuming I use the wire, correct? And I could just rake out from under there ever so often. Would it be better to have a solid bottom on the run? Or does it really matter?

Also, should the exit door for the chickens be closable? I'm thinking hard winter/drafts or predators. I guess the wire is the most vunerable area for something to get in...and up through the hatch and they are in the chickens.

 

[tragic59]

I think most people's runs are just on the ground.

The chickens like to scratch and peck at the ground.

 

[cmom]

I am going to be building a new coop. Actually I'll be adding on to an existing coop. I raised my original coop a foot off the ground. It used to sit on the ground. my new coop and old coop will be 2ft off the ground.

Edited for spelling.

 

[patandchickens]

Please don't deprive chickens of a proper dirt-or-gravel-or-whatever run, unless it is somehow absolutely unavoidable. It's really tough for a chicken to live its whole life on wire, or even just wire outdoors and shavings indoors. Scratching and picking in the dirt (or gravel or whatever) is such a BASIC ESSENTIAL part of being a chicken. It's a shame to deprive them of the opportunity to do what thye need to do.

Also you can get foot problems on wire, and it is not as easy to clean as you might think (chicken poo WILL NOT all fall through wire, it is much larger caliber than rabbit poo)

I'd really advocate putting the run on the ground.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat