Well, if even with that giant flood your garden paths were fine, then your coop will most likely be fine too.
How to make a walk-in coop elevated? First coop sketches (pics) inside...
- Thread starter jbher
- Start date
Considering the slope in the yard you will almost HAVE TO elevate it just to get it level
- Thread starter
- #23
Yes, definitely will have to do something to get it level. I just really want to be able to walk in. So maybe I'll just have to step up into it...
build it like a pole barn maybe? That way the base is ground level and you can walk in and the roof is level?
This is how I care for my birds on the east coast of Canada (Indian name for COLD.)
My floor are planks with a layer of tin for rodent proofing. On top of the tin I have a piece of vinyl flooring cut one foot longer than the length and width of my coop (roughly). Six inches squares are cut out of the 4 cornes of the vinyl flooring. This allows the friction fitted flooring to travel up the walls six inches around the perimiter of my 4x8 salvaged metal coop. Shovel out the heavy stuff into a wheel barrow. Pop out the vinyl flooring hose it off pop it back in.
Easy Peasy!
I have been around the sun 63 times.
It is not my first "Rodeo!"
Nobody "I know" heats a chicken coop.
Healthy "cold hearty" chickens die from heat not cold.
I live in Canada last year was subject to -40º (C or F take your pick) no light or heat in coop NO PROBLEMS.
Chickens have been raised on this continent for over a hundred years without heat.
If you feel you must supply heat to your chickens I suggest keeping your chickens in the house that way you can huddle with your birds when the hydro goes out.
Chickens will die from cold if not given the chance to acclimatize. Hydro is more apt to go out in an ice storm or blizzard when subject to below 0º temperatures in my opinion.
How would you supply heat then to your un-acclimatized birds ???
Diary of last winter cold snap check out the link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738994/chickens-arctic-conditions-prolonged-period
I have used all types of litter for coops.
I have not tried sand (sand gets good reviews on this site).
Of all the things I tried to date wood pellets have been the best. (I tried wood pellets as a last resort when pine shavings were not available.) They are super absorbent and swell up and eventually turn to saw dust. The droppings just seem to vanish and turn to dust when it comes in contact with wood pellets .
Replace my litter and clean my coop every October after I harvest my garden.
Works for me in my deep litter method.
I do add to pellets from time to time.
I have anywhere from 10 to 15 birds housed in my 4x8 coop.
Through the winter months it froze harder than concrete with -40º temperatures. The poop froze before it could be absorbed by the pellets and there was like a crusty layer of poop in certain areas where they collectively took aim (no smell, messy feet or flies @ -40º). Come April things started to look after themselves.
Oh I might add I do have poop boards 3½" below my roost that I clean every 2 to 3 days (excellent for catching eggs laid through the night).
In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new.
Easy peasy!.
Chicken coop is salvaged 4x8 metal shed.
I house a variety of birds in hear ¼ inch plywood veneer between birds and the elements no heat no light no insulation no problems!
My floor are planks with a layer of tin for rodent proofing. On top of the tin I have a piece of vinyl flooring cut one foot longer than the length and width of my coop (roughly). Six inches squares are cut out of the 4 cornes of the vinyl flooring. This allows the friction fitted flooring to travel up the walls six inches around the perimiter of my 4x8 salvaged metal coop. Shovel out the heavy stuff into a wheel barrow. Pop out the vinyl flooring hose it off pop it back in.
Easy Peasy!
I have been around the sun 63 times.
It is not my first "Rodeo!"
Nobody "I know" heats a chicken coop.
Healthy "cold hearty" chickens die from heat not cold.
I live in Canada last year was subject to -40º (C or F take your pick) no light or heat in coop NO PROBLEMS.
Chickens have been raised on this continent for over a hundred years without heat.
If you feel you must supply heat to your chickens I suggest keeping your chickens in the house that way you can huddle with your birds when the hydro goes out.
Chickens will die from cold if not given the chance to acclimatize. Hydro is more apt to go out in an ice storm or blizzard when subject to below 0º temperatures in my opinion.
How would you supply heat then to your un-acclimatized birds ???
Diary of last winter cold snap check out the link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738994/chickens-arctic-conditions-prolonged-period
I have used all types of litter for coops.
I have not tried sand (sand gets good reviews on this site).
Of all the things I tried to date wood pellets have been the best. (I tried wood pellets as a last resort when pine shavings were not available.) They are super absorbent and swell up and eventually turn to saw dust. The droppings just seem to vanish and turn to dust when it comes in contact with wood pellets .
Replace my litter and clean my coop every October after I harvest my garden.
Works for me in my deep litter method.
I do add to pellets from time to time.
I have anywhere from 10 to 15 birds housed in my 4x8 coop.
Through the winter months it froze harder than concrete with -40º temperatures. The poop froze before it could be absorbed by the pellets and there was like a crusty layer of poop in certain areas where they collectively took aim (no smell, messy feet or flies @ -40º). Come April things started to look after themselves.
Oh I might add I do have poop boards 3½" below my roost that I clean every 2 to 3 days (excellent for catching eggs laid through the night).
In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new.
Easy peasy!.
Chicken coop is salvaged 4x8 metal shed.
I house a variety of birds in hear ¼ inch plywood veneer between birds and the elements no heat no light no insulation no problems!
Last edited:
We put 4x4's stands underneath and attached them to the coop floors with Simpson strong tie L brackets. I admit I do not enjoy stooping to clean so I selfishly wanted to raise them up higher so I could clean them. We found that here in Jacksonville, FL we get a lot of rain and the run often has standing water during the heaviest rainstorms. They can go underneath to avoid rain or up inside and had the coops been on the ground the rainwater would have been inside the coops so this was a simple solution for us.
Caroline
jbher, I suggest using these cement blocks with steel blocks. Easy to put and arrange wherever you want. Not too much digging for you, only to get level.
Using pressure treated 4x4's to make the support rails, on top of that I would lay down a deck of 2x6's (something weatherproof) than lay down a plywood floor and cover with vinyl or linoleum flooring for easy clean-up and the floor will support the walk in traffic. This will also allow you to use a deep litter if you wish. Keep sketching and surfing designs on the web, one will jump out at you.
I'm south of you in N. IL - but snow and heat are the extremes we have also. We're rarely with 60" of snow though...more like 30" for the season.
I'll post some pictures of the coop in the morning (pm me if I neglect to do this....)
I built a 14'x 10' coop 27" off the ground. Why? Flooding. I constructed it just like you would a deck - post and beam construction. Think a gazebo on a deck....with solid walls instead.
From the ground up:
The posts go down below the frost line (rent an auger post-hole digger for this - just pay the money, it's less than the chiro!).
The floor beams are attached to the posts with lag bolts. I oversized the beams just because I build that way.
The hardware cloth goes on top of the beams and are stapled to the beams.
The sub-floor goes next on top of the hardware cloth - keeps out most rodents.
The walls are built on top of the sub-floor.
The roof goes on last.
Gutters to collect rainwater into rain barrels for spring/summer/fall use. Less hauling of water that way.
Windows, doors, pop door, egg door - all added details to finish it all off.
Because the coop is partially in the run, the hens have a 6'x6' area to get dust baths in all year round. The roof over that part of the coop extends 6'x12' - so even more area stays dry. Because of the slope of the roof, it should shed snow nicely and no where I'm walking!
The pictures will help explain some of the details. Working mostly alone, it's taken me most of two months of weekends to complete the coop. I did insulate the coop for sound reasons, not heat reasons. With corregated plastic roofing, there is lots of ventilation. I'm looking at adding a clerstory window to add more ventilation next spring (I'm DONE building this thing for now! Got to get the garden closed down for the season...no more time to build!).
I'll post some pictures of the coop in the morning (pm me if I neglect to do this....)
I built a 14'x 10' coop 27" off the ground. Why? Flooding. I constructed it just like you would a deck - post and beam construction. Think a gazebo on a deck....with solid walls instead.
From the ground up:
The posts go down below the frost line (rent an auger post-hole digger for this - just pay the money, it's less than the chiro!).
The floor beams are attached to the posts with lag bolts. I oversized the beams just because I build that way.
The hardware cloth goes on top of the beams and are stapled to the beams.
The sub-floor goes next on top of the hardware cloth - keeps out most rodents.
The walls are built on top of the sub-floor.
The roof goes on last.
Gutters to collect rainwater into rain barrels for spring/summer/fall use. Less hauling of water that way.
Windows, doors, pop door, egg door - all added details to finish it all off.
Because the coop is partially in the run, the hens have a 6'x6' area to get dust baths in all year round. The roof over that part of the coop extends 6'x12' - so even more area stays dry. Because of the slope of the roof, it should shed snow nicely and no where I'm walking!
The pictures will help explain some of the details. Working mostly alone, it's taken me most of two months of weekends to complete the coop. I did insulate the coop for sound reasons, not heat reasons. With corregated plastic roofing, there is lots of ventilation. I'm looking at adding a clerstory window to add more ventilation next spring (I'm DONE building this thing for now! Got to get the garden closed down for the season...no more time to build!).
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