In praise of elevated coops

[GCrumb]

With no stands, the plastic snap-lock coops get mouse nests under them and must be moved every week or two. The chickens enjoy attacking the mice when the nests are exposed, but it's still not desirable...

@JustLook I figure it's elevated if a chicken can walk under it and you can rake out under it.

 

[KyCoop]

An elevated coop is usually 3 or so feet off the ground fixed in place. Having 3ft of open air, easy access makes it undesirable to critters that might want to try and live under there. If it's only a few inches or just tall enough for chickens to get under your asking for trouble.

 

[Ted Brown]

Total newbie here when you say elevated coop I am not sure exactly what you mean. This is my very first coop and I would do a hundred things different but it was a blast, it did the job but it took me forever and is way over built it would withstand a hit from the oak tree next to it falling.

First flock, first coop, newbie here trying to make sure I know what qualifies as an elevated coop, how’s this?!

I extended the hardware cloth, etc 12 inches out from the run on all sides and lined with pavers etc.

Here it is being framed and the final with green roof! The middle floor leads to nest boxes.

It’s essentially 8x8x8 with an 8x4 run that is 8 feet high with another 8x4 that’s only two feet high, so the floor of the run is 8x8 if that makes sense, it’s like an L shape with part of the run going under the hen house.

Does this count?!
I had a blast building this but I learned sooo much I would never do it exactly this way again! So all comments are welcome this was a learning experience.

IMHO if it is off the ground it is elevated/raised.

How high is the real question and I think the key considerations are what best suits both the chickens that use it and, most importantly, the humans that have to look after them. In both cases the height will be sufficient to deter animals from using the area under the coop as a place to live even if they could get past the HC used to enclose it.

Once the decision is made to elevate the coop a cost is involved; I suggest that the cost differences between any height up to three feet are minimal so my bias was what was best for me?

• My first coop was elevated and I had no practical experience with chickens, I had read tales of "crawling through chicken s**t". No thanks! Turns out my run area is 99% mulch, shavings and leaves; any droppings done in the run disappear so fast it is not a consideration.
• However, the mere thought of crawling through any muck made me decide on a height that would allow me to crouch down but still "walk" on the balls of my feet, three feet was what I decided, it works and is comfortable I would not want it any lower.

The use of HC aprons around a coop is defeated by covering them up with pavers or stones. These will encourage any digging predators to back up and start digging where the pavers end. There are any number of critters that can dig under 12" in short order. Get rid of them!

 

[JChipowsky]

The start looks great. My only comment would be to use hardware cloth around the bottom to keep out predators. Chicken wire is meant to keep chickens IN not predators OUT!

The whole bottom half has hardware cloth, with a 21 inch skirt all the way around. The bottom of the coop will also be fenced with the same. We used chicken wire on the top and over the roof.

 

[JChipowsky]

Ummm, how does this work, will you let the run continue under that raised part which I presume is the hen house? I love it regardless just wanting to follow this thread better! Great work!!

Once the bottom half of the coop is finished we'll fence it in and add the anti dig skirt so the entire section under the coop will be safe for the chickens to roam.

 

[Krugerrand]

The use of HC aprons around a coop is defeated by covering them up with pavers or stones. These will encourage any digging predators to back up and start digging where the pavers end. There are any number of critters that can dig under 12" in short order. Get rid of them!

A great point on the pavers ... but I like the way they look and the functional aspect of having a place to walk without it getting muddy. So, extending the apron beyond the pavers is a good option, too.

 

[Krugerrand]

I like my elevated coop. Especially for smaller coops I think they are really practical. Ours is about 3' off the ground, but probably uncommon in not giving the chickens access to underneath it.

 

[teddyjames]

Elevated coop? Working on one as we speak.

 

[Ted Brown]

Elevated coop? Working on one as we speak.View attachment 3638507

FWIW I have a small stoop at the top of my stairs. Very useful to have a place for food/water while one opens the door.