Help with the design of a chicken coop

ChickenManny

Chirping
Jan 24, 2016
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Hey Y'all,

I need some help. I need to design an elevated chicken coop. Both the hen house and the run have to be elevated. Due to the shape of my lawn, and with sprinkler heads everywhere, I do not have the availability to lay a concrete foundation and build the traditional coop. I have an area that I can build a coop, along a retaining wall, but I need to elevate it.

The coop dimensions would be: 3' x up to 12-14'. The legs would be approximately 18" tall. The house and run would be approximately 4-5' tall, peaked or gable roof, hardware cloth, windows, fan/heat lamp, and solar power. The coop would be sitting on top of landscaping rock, approximately 1-3" in size.

The chickens cannot free range. HOA and Red Tail Hawks present. Coop must be elevated because putting a concrete pad in where I have to put the coop is not a viable option.

Where I am stuck is what to make the floor of the run out of. What material do I use that will not go bad, or weigh a ton? How to clean the run for chicken poop?

I have looked on the internet for pictures of an elevated run. I found one, but no specifics on plans, construction, etc.

I plan on having 4 to 6 six hens. NO more. No rooster.

Any ideas? Please help.

Thanks,

Manny
 
What I have come up with so far:

3'x12' base.
4x4 legs, corners, and at the 4' and 8' centerline, all framed in.
4x4 concrete post footings to keep wood off ground/rot prevention.
2x6 outer walls to create the floor box.
2x6 floor joists, 16" on center (9)
1/2"x1/2" Hardware Cloth stapled on top of frame. Extra predator protection.
Window Screen stapled below the frame to prevent wasp nests under the frame

This will complete the base. It is sturdy and will provide a solid platform for the coop above.

Now I am thinking about designing a small section where I can have removable trays to collect the chicken poop for fertilization in the flower beds and for the garden.

I may widen the platform to 4'. IDK yet.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
So...why floor the run?...3x12 run under the coop, and then i would double the footprint, probably wider, for the run...
 
So...why floor the run?...3x12 run under the coop, and then i would double the footprint, probably wider, for the run...

The chicken coop will sit on top of a rock bed that sits against a retaining wall, which was put there as a medium to help with drainage when it rains. My home sits cut into a hill top where there is not that much soil vs. granite rock. I can go out about four feet from the retaining wall where the ground is level, then it starts to slope downward. The rock area needs to stay clear of grass/weeds, which if the chicken crap was to fall down into, would fertilize and cause me issues. I also want to harvest the fertilizer to use in flower beds and in the garden, along with giving it to neighbors to help build report and develop a coop mentality should the proverbial poop hit the fan in this country.

Four feet would be the maximum I could probably go from the wall, and the coop would be right up against the wall. I do not have the ability to keep it a foot off the wall.
 
Use dirt for the floor.

JT

I do not know if dirt will be practical being that the floor is elevated. I have concerns if it gets wet, which I am sure it will. Sand would be easier because I could easily create a PVC drain system in the floor and have the water drain out. Dirt would make mud, which would absorb into the wood and make the case for rot over time.
 
I also can't understand why the run must be elevated above ground. How big is your yard? Does sprinkler system wet the entire yard?

Building the run off ground IMO will set you up for all sorts of problems. Chickens were created to scratch and dig in the vegetation and soil for their grub. Preventing them from doing so will set you up for all sorts of behavioral problems. Starting with feather picking and possibly leading up to active aggression including blood shed and or cannibalism.

The yard does not need to be level to build either a structurally sound coop OR run. If needed, you could even build a terraced affair which would give your birds contact with the ground, which you will want to convert to deep litter management. In such a tight space with HOA limitations, I'd also consider giving them a planted "greens box" which would be covered with hardware cloth to keep them from destroying the plants.
 
I also can't understand why the run must be elevated above ground. How big is your yard? Does sprinkler system wet the entire yard?

Building the run off ground IMO will set you up for all sorts of problems. Chickens were created to scratch and dig in the vegetation and soil for their grub. Preventing them from doing so will set you up for all sorts of behavioral problems. Starting with feather picking and possibly leading up to active aggression including blood shed and or cannibalism.

The yard does not need to be level to build either a structurally sound coop OR run. If needed, you could even build a terraced affair which would give your birds contact with the ground, which you will want to convert to deep litter management. In such a tight space with HOA limitations, I'd also consider giving them a planted "greens box" which would be covered with hardware cloth to keep them from destroying the plants.

I understand what you are saying. I appreciate your comments. The sprinkler system hits all sections of the yard, except that zone where I intended to put the coop. I could remove all the stone and put a concrete pad in, but I am trying to also keep the coop moveable if I should move. A concrete pad would cause problems for me.

The only other thing I thought of was a runless chicken coop. But that doesn't seen fair as they need to stretch their legs, and I can't free range because of the red tail hawk that makes my yard a visiting place every three or four weeks.

The rocks where the coop is going really can't be moved. They are there for drainage reasons. Hence the elevated coop and run. I could put the coop in the middle of the side yard, but then water flow for drainage goes right through it. If I put it against the side wall retaining wall, it will sit in-between two sprinkler heads, and although I can change the heads so they don't spray into the coop, the coop still risks getting wet and staying wet, as the system works every M-W-F.

My yard lot is large, but L shaped. And it has sloping both sides in towards the middle for water drainage. I don't think they make life preservers for chickens, which they would need when it heavily rains. LOL
 
The chicken coop will sit on top of a rock bed that sits against a retaining wall, which was put there as a medium to help with drainage when it rains. My home sits cut into a hill top where there is not that much soil vs. granite rock. I can go out about four feet from the retaining wall where the ground is level, then it starts to slope downward. The rock area needs to stay clear of grass/weeds, which if the chicken crap was to fall down into, would fertilize and cause me issues. I also want to harvest the fertilizer to use in flower beds and in the garden, along with giving it to neighbors to help build report and develop a coop mentality should the proverbial poop hit the fan in this country.

Four feet would be the maximum I could probably go from the wall, and the coop would be right up against the wall. I do not have the ability to keep it a foot off the wall.
The general consensus is that chickens actually help insure that you have a continued moonscape in they perpetual denuding of their runs and scratching looking for bugs...
 

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