Hen house idea...ok or not?

[luvmychix2014]

I bought this exact hen house for my 2 hens...the wood is not the best so I had an idea of putting it on a solid all around brick border to keep it off the ground...does anyone see a problem with this? I do live in the city and have a fenced in yard and rarely any wild animals thanks to our dog (who loves our chickens)

 

[bigmrg74]

You'll find out pretty soon that you'll have plenty of critters in your yard with two tasty chicken dinners in the yard.

Thing is to remember with a chicken tractor like that, you're always going to want to have a good seal to the ground to keep critters like weasels out of the coop. having gaps between bricks there would just be a easy access door to a weasel, who only needs about an inch of space to get into things.

 

[luvmychix2014]

So leave it flat on the ground? I hear it's made from fir wood...just don't want it to rott away

 

[bigmrg74]

Its going to be a pretty small coop, so if Chicken Math ever kicks in, you're going to want a bigger coop for them. You would be fine for at least a season with it.

You could always paint the bottom wood there with some outdoor deck paint. that would help it to resist rotting.

 

[luvmychix2014]

My plan is to paint the entire thing and next spring add a large run to the front of it for more room...I am only allowed 2 chickens and this is for 4 birds supposedly.

 

[CollegeChicken]

build a base frame out of pressure treated 2x4's that is appropriately measured for your coop size. Staple hardware cloth to the bottom of the base and sit the entire coop inside of it. This gives you a wire floor. You can move the coop around to grassy areas or fill the run with sand or pea gravel. Dont worry about the wood on the original coop...put a couple of coats of spray paint all around the base pieces and it will extend the life of the wood...you wont see it anyway because it will be sitting inside the 2x4 base.... I would also paint the 2x4 base white or cream whatever color to match your coop to finish off the whole look .