How TALL should a shelter for chickens be?

[Hopeful Peacock]

I want to design a tractor so that it is up on legs and has a shady area underneath for chickens to hang out. I'm getting standard breeds on the large side (brahma, wyandotte). How high off the ground should their "ceiling" be in a hang out space?

Thanks!

 

[spotstealer]

I'm in the process of building my coop now. I plan on about 2 ft under the coop. This way it will be above the snow as well as having room for them to walk down the ramp into the run. The hieght of my coop will top out at six feet, the hieght I plan on making my run.

 

[patandchickens]

They will wedge themselves even into a 12" high space if they want to, but 15-16" is much kinder, they will still have to hunch a bit but not badly. And of course there is a real tradeoff in chicken headroom versus the stability of the tractor.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Hopeful Peacock]

Thank you!