Large Coop off Ground?

[Chickie7]

Hi everyone! After about 6 months of me talking to my husband about how neat it would be to add chickens to our farm, we came home with some baby chicks last week I know we should have had our coop constructed first, but my husband is a great builder and can put together something really quickly. Right now he's completing the finishing of our basement so the coop is his next project that's about to start in a few days

After scouring the internet for various coops, we've decided to construct one off the ground to keep the rats away. Our neighbors already have issues with the rats with their own flock and so we're trying to do our best to avoid any unwanted critters in the coop. We need a large coop and my husband plans to build one like in the picture below. I'm a bit concerned though because I haven't found a single coop online for 25-30 chickens that's built a few feet off the ground. Is there some reason why? Is it unstable to build a larger building off the ground? My husband argues that beach houses are built off the ground so it will be fine. I know he'll build it strong, but he's not an engineer so things like the wind blowing it over worry me.
He plans to have 4x4's sunk into the ground about 2 feet with concrete and to build the coop off the 4x4's. We want the type of coop where you open the back doors to clean it out rather than walking inside. I argued with him that we wouldn't be able to reach the whole coop if it's that large and we can't walk in to clean it. He says if we have a long enough broom we'll be fine. I'm skeptical.

The run will come off the coop as well and will be covered. We plan to use 1/4" hardware cloth 2 feet underground all around the run and want to run hardware cloth up the sides of the run as well.

Basically we want to build similar to what's in this picture but on a much larger scale (the building would be 12x8). The run will be large but I'm not sure yet how large. We talked about it being around 12x24 feet or so but I don't want to sink a fortune into it. We want it to be secure though. We have foxes, coyotes, mice, rats, neighbor dogs, hawks, owls, and the usual southern Ohio predators in our area. We do have the option of free ranging the chickens throughout the day because we do have land. I just want to make sure that they have an area to be outside when we aren't around to watch them. Also I've read about putting them inside at night, having the food put away at night to help control predators, keeping food in secured metal type containers, etc. I'm right now just looking for advice on the building and run. Thanks!!

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Your husband is a motivated man! But really that will be a nightmare to clean under any circumstances. In addition, what if you need to get in there to do health inspections on the birds at night(typically how you check for mites for example), or for any of a dozen reasons? I so enjoy my walk in coop, can't recommend walk in access enough.

 

[Percheron chick]

For 30 hens in Ohio in the winter, you will want a 12x12 coop minimum. Rats are great climbers. Elevating the coop will not keep them out. Skip the legs.

 

[PirateGirl]

A coop large enough for that many chickens is likely to require a building permit. I know our county has specifics on the type of foundation required for a structure of that size. I'd recommend checking with the building department before moving forward.

 

[blackdog043]

I have an 8 x 12 lean to shed/coop. I couldn't imagine trying to clean it out with a broom, from the ground, through clean out doors. I hope he will be the one doing that. After the first time, he will have wished he made a walk in coop. How will you add bedding to freshen the coop up? When needed I walk in and throw some around. I hope you get a walk in coop, it will be so much easier.

 

[sawilliams]

I like your idea but i agree difficult to clean. I wanted my coop raised to for the extra shade and pest protection. But we went with a shed (yes an actual 8x8 shed). Fortunately with the slight slope that were put the chicken run on the shed is partly raised to level it. I'm not talking 2-3 feet off the ground, I think the high side is about 18 inches up with the other side almost flush to the ground. But the good thing is they can go under and i can walk in if needed. I wouldn't want to even think of cleaning my 8x8 without being able to walk in.

Anyways my point is a raised coop doesn't have to be high, nor can it not be a walk in if needed. 12-18 inches is all you need and the hens will use the underside just fine, of course the greater the hieght the easier it will be if you have to get eggs from under there. But 9 months so far and i haven't had that issue (yet)

 

[Teila]

Not ideal for everyone, but just some food for thought ......

We have a raised coop for climate reasons but yeah, it is not going to hold 25-30 chickens but is over spacious for our 5 little bantams.

Due to our climate, the floor is timber slatted for added ventilation and the girls do not spend much time in there except to roost or lay an egg and the majority of their time is spent in the run; no winters cooped up so to speak.

Because the floor is slide out, it is actually not difficult to clean, just slide out the floor and use a step stool to stand under the coop once the floor is out and you have ducked under, if that makes sense.

My girls are tame enough that I can do health inspections during the day but if need be, I can access them easily at night, via the step stool and a lift up door which opens on to the roost area.

If you wanted to have it raised, you could try deterring the rats using this method on the support posts:



Some pictures of our coop .....

This one [during construction] shows how, with the floor out, I can duck under and stand 'in' the coop to clean:

Pictures were not taken for this purpose so sorry they are not the best; they were actually taken to show how I was transforming the jungle in to a garden Here you can see the lift up human access and it also demonstrates how high off the ground the coop floor is, which is about 2.5 to 3 foot:

In this one you can just see the ramps to the coop which are staggered with a platform:

This one is just to show the framework during construction. All the posts have been dug a considerable distance in to the ground and also cemented in. Also shows the 'jungle' I was faced with clearing

Found a better one of the ramp, which my bantams manage without issue

 

[Mraya]

If possible build a walk in coop I have 2 coops like the one in you picture and 1 walk in coop. Walk in coop so much easier on your back.

 

[TeenageRooster's Dad]

Not ideal for everyone, but just some food for thought ......

We have a raised coop for climate reasons but yeah, it is not going to hold 25-30 chickens but is over spacious for our 5 little bantams.

Due to our climate, the floor is timber slatted for added ventilation and the girls do not spend much time in there except to roost or lay an egg and the majority of their time is spent in the run; no winters cooped up so to speak.

Because the floor is slide out, it is actually not difficult to clean, just slide out the floor and use a step stool to stand under the coop once the floor is out and you have ducked under, if that makes sense.

My girls are tame enough that I can do health inspections during the day but if need be, I can access them easily at night, via the step stool and a lift up door which opens on to the roost area.

If you wanted to have it raised, you could try deterring the rats using this method on the support posts:

View attachment 1332494

Some pictures of our coop .....

View attachment 1332496

This one [during construction] shows how, with the floor out, I can duck under and stand 'in' the coop to clean:

View attachment 1332497

Pictures were not taken for this purpose so sorry they are not the best; they were actually taken to show how I was transforming the jungle in to a garden Here you can see the lift up human access and it also demonstrates how high off the ground the coop floor is, which is about 2.5 to 3 foot:

View attachment 1332541

In this one you can just see the ramps to the coop which are staggered with a platform:
View attachment 1332502

This one is just to show the framework during construction. All the posts have been dug a considerable distance in to the ground and also cemented in. Also shows the 'jungle' I was faced with clearing

View attachment 1332539

Found a better one of the ramp, which my bantams manage without issue

View attachment 1332543

Wow, Teila... this is one amazing coop, I had worse summer home than this!

 

[TeenageRooster's Dad]

One thing I can add is tight meshing is surprisingly efficient to keep those dirty rats out. I used to find a lot of droppings until I installed about 4' high of super tight mesh. I fanned it out with a 1x6, similar to the pillar blocked pictured above, haven't a dropping since.