How Sturdy Does This Coop Need To Be? C'mon! They Only Weigh 6 Pounds!

[RaskyKat]

I appreciate any help I can get on this subject. I'm building an 8x10, slant-roof coop on level ground. Before starting, I didn't have a clue about construction. After spending hours on YouTube and various other places, I think I can build a very nice chicken coop all by myself. I bought sturdy 2x6 treated lumber for the foundation & joists, 4x4 treated lumber for the skids under the foundation, 9 deck blocks, hot-dipped screws and yada, yada, yada. I'm trying not to go broke doing this.

Then I got to thinking, how study does this thing need to be? Can't I use 2x4s for the foundation and have it sitting on cinder blocks? Of course it has to withstand the elements, but c'mon! The chickens are only 6 pounds and I will be the only human walking inside the coop, and I'll do that only occasionally and only a few minutes at a time. Do I need to build this with heavy lumber? Really?

I love looking at the coops you all have posted. Some, you can tell were designed and built by contractors and can double as a bomb shelter. Others, look like they have been slapped together with salvaged this and that. But isn't there a happy medium? I keep thinking, THEY ONLY WEIGH 6 POUNDS!

Awaiting your reply....

 

[texan4ut]

What you bought is good. If you try and use 2x4's they will eventually sag unless you use a bunch of them. With 2x6's you will have a much better foundation. It's not what the chickens weigh it's all the stuff you going to build on top of the foundation.

 

[RaskyKat]

I guess it does all add up, right? The bigger and sturdier the foundation, the bigger and sturdier I can build up from it. This whole building thing was supposed to be a learning adventure for me anyway. Might as well do it right. I need to stop second-guessing.

 

[JaceAgain]

You arent building a coop for the chickens, you are building it for the elements and the predators. My coop is large, and its built pretty much like a house with its foundation and spacing betweeen the 2x4's etc, because we get hurricanes and 50-60mph winds here and it needs to stay upright in those conditions. I also have no plans of rebuilding it in the next 5-10 years so I built it to last. If you live somewhere it snows, snow is HEAVY. You have to take all that ito consideration unless you just dont really mind having to get a new flock or build a new coop every so often.

 

[WthrLady]

You arent building a coop for the chickens, you are building it for the elements and the predators. My coop is large, and its built pretty much like a house with its foundation and spacing betweeen the 2x4's etc, because we get hurricanes and 50-60mph winds here and it needs to stay upright in those conditions. I also have no plans of rebuilding it in the next 5-10 years so I built it to last. If you live somewhere it snows, snow is HEAVY. You have to take all that ito consideration unless you just dont really mind having to get a new flock or build a new coop every so often.

ditto that

Plus here i have to meet building code, and i had to have a permit. So you may want to check on that. Winds on my hill almost always hit 30mph by lunch. 60 is common place.

Plus hail. Plus heavy winter snows.

 

[PapaChaz]

You arent building a coop for the chickens, you are building it for the elements and the predators. My coop is large, and its built pretty much like a house with its foundation and spacing betweeen the 2x4's etc, because we get hurricanes and 50-60mph winds here and it needs to stay upright in those conditions. I also have no plans of rebuilding it in the next 5-10 years so I built it to last. If you live somewhere it snows, snow is HEAVY. You have to take all that ito consideration unless you just dont really mind having to get a new flock or build a new coop every so often.

couldn't have said it better!

I do wonder though, if you're putting it on 4x4 skids, why the deck blocks too?

 

[RaskyKat]

Papa Chaz, "deck blocks too", because I didn't know any better. After starting this post, I did more reading, and finally ditched the 4x4 skids. The things I had read said I can do it this way, or I can do it that way...but at first reading, I thought they were saying I have to have both. I will have it sitting just on the deck blocks now. I have them in place and leveled...Just waiting for the neighbor guy to come home so he can help me move the 8x10 frame onto the blocks.

Thank you for asking the question...You confirmed my reading. As I said in my original post, before I started, I had no idea what I was doing. So my knowledge is being refined more and more.

When I get the frame in place with joists installed, I'll post a pic.

 

[Cearbhael]

Makes me glad my coop is basically already there (albeit 100 years old and converted to a 2 horse stable.) All my efforts will be mostly internal, converting it back to a coop. One older pop hole definitely will never be used again. The other is a ?? It goes goes out to an abandoned pasture that is now heavy woods with a stream... Deer, fox, coyote, pheasant etc abound there. All have been seen in our yard and the deer will sleep in the horse paddock. I intend to build a run or two inside the paddock. Covered so I can keep the flock safe from wild bird and arial predators. 6 confirmed cases of Avian flu at Turkey Farms here in MN this spring. Best that chickens be in totally enclosed conditions.