New Coop Plan in progress - will a run under a 8' x 8' coop work?

[kevinhannan]

I'm planning on a new coop (yay!) and I got to wondering about
including an enclosed run under the coop. The basic coop will be
8 x 8 feet by 6 feet high with the bottom coop having the same area
but about 2.5feet high (is that high enough?).

I'd love to hear from people, please, who can tell me about any problems
with this kind of design. I will also have additional runs at the two
sides of the coop. The sides of the under-coop will be removable for
access and cleaning. I'm hoping this will keep my girls happy for when
the weather is bad and they don't want to use their external runs.

Thanks for reading me and your time to reply.
Kevin

 

[ryan820]

Ok so your coop will be above a run that is essential the same length and width of your coop? the biggest issue I can see happening is the pain of having to get into that run to get a feed dish or cleaning it, if you have to at some point. I have a small 6 chicken coop and built the coop above the run that is the same dimensions as the coop. It's not very big but a total pain in the butt to get things out of the run area because it's not tall enough for me to walk into and is too long for me not to have to carefully crawl in to get a dish or other things needing out of the run. With that said, my girls have a dry place to hang out, and though it hasn't snowed yet, I imagine they will have a snow free area too.

I need to get pics of my coop.

 

[ailurophile23]

I think it would work great. My current coop is about 1.5 to 2 feet off the ground (it is on a slope) and the hens love to hang out underneath in good weather and bad. We just did the run around the coop so the hens have access to underneath whenever they feel the need. The only concern I would have is providing a good strong base since your coop will be full height and thus have a fair amount of weight sitting on whatever keeps it 2.5 ft off the ground. My coop is only about 4 feet high on the tall side - not a walk-in coop obviously!

 

[kevinhannan]

Thanks for that, Ryan, I appreciate that.

Yes, I can see what you're saying - perhaps I can put a feeder
and drinker on the side panels of the under-coop for ease of
access. Or only have the water with the food in the coop.

My only real concern so far is the cleaning of it. I had thought
of making the coop moveable but I think it will be too heavy
and unwieldy to move. Perhaps a long-handled rake is the answer
here? I also imagine that chicken-poo will dissolve pretty quickly.

e2a: cross-posted

ailurophile23: thanks for your reply. Yes, that's a worry I hope
that will be solved by decking joists but adds to the weight. My
need for comfort and good head-height is why it's so high. I do
plan to have a little area "walled-off" with 3foot high panels so
I can out a table and chairs for me and my good lady wife to sit
and have a cup of tea while watching the girls go about their business!

 

[weeders n feeders]

Ditto on Ryan's comment. Higher would be better for you.

 

[ryan820]

Quote:
What I did to get around it is that I put a string on any container that goes in, like the feed container. I tie it to the entry way and I can usually get it back out no problem. Cleaning it is more difficult but frequent raking may do the trick.

It's true, chickens love the cover, so they will be very happy with it, but you have to make it so cyan deal with the issues associated to it.

Also, a feeder that you can fill from the outside and feeds the birds inside would be ideal but I'm not there yet.

 

[ailurophile23]

I actually screwed hooks into the bottom of my coop and hang the feeders and waterers off of those - it's about the perfect height. Cleaning under it is an issue but a rake works well. And because it is dry under there, any chicken poo tends to dry out quickly which is a benefit.

 

[ryan820]

Quote:
+1

 

[kevinhannan]

hi weeders, pleased to meet you ;-)
there is some pressure for me to keep the total height low
to prevent any upset with the neighbours - so it's a compromise.
But you're totally right - I even thought of digging the ground around
it to give more height!

ryan & ailurophile23 - cheers guys for the extended feedback and ideas. ;-)

 

[kuntrygirl]

So, you're building a raised coop?