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

[kevinhannan]

hi kuntrygirl,

yes, that's right.

So far I've now also got an idea of the 'net on how to
size those big garden wheels and the weight etc so
I'm just double-checking my figures. Anything can change
on the build day! I reckon I will do this over the next few
months (til xmas) so I'm not under a huge pressure to
work in horrible weather!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
That's what I thought. That is great!!!!!!!!!!!

I love ALL raised coops.

All good points made so far as potential concerns/problems under the coop.

Feeders, waters, cleaning, and perhaps picking an egg or 2 if your girls are feeling a little wicked that day and want to lay elsewhere (under the coop). But those things can be remedied as also stated.

I too have a raised coop with 2 feet below space. However, it is not enclosed. I do use the extra space to slide the feeders in when it is going to rain. The chickens and ducks use the extra space to take a nap during the day and to get out of the sun. I love it. The next coops that will be built will also be raised coops. Here is a pic of the coop that I am talking about. It's a small raised coop that is connected to the chicken house where the nesting boxes are.

I think your idea will totally work.

 

[amenfarm]

How about doing the run as you plan but, make 1 section the height of the coop? If you extend the roof at one side, or just under the roof line, you can make that into your human height area and reach almost all the coop area from there, crawling under the coop for what ever would get old for me quick. That way it should keep the neighbors happy. My husband is doing a conversion on a step 2 little tikes playhouse and building it up 24" so they have a shaded area no matter where I roll it, and making the enclosed area my height for cleaning and maintaining the coop. Do remember to prepare the area with a slope in the direction you want the water to runand decide what substrate you wish it to be--sand for me!!.

 

[kevinhannan]

Dear kuntrygirl,

Thanks for your wonderful reply and great pic! I appreciate your time very much.
Your comments are firm in my head. I hope to include photos of the build and
completed project after xmas. Thank you enormously again.

Hello amenfarm,
What a great name! Now that is a *brilliant* idea! Thanks for sharing that!
As I got o sleep, I think these project ideas through, and that will be stirring
around in my head! Thanks for that great tip and for your time ;-)

General note:
I've been reading quite a lot on this forum and would like to say a HUGE
thank you to all the great people that make this the #1 place for all things chicken!
All you guys are simply wonderful!

 

[NovaAman]

IMO, its going to be a pain in the butt to try and rake and area out that is that big. I have a 4x8 thats 2 feet off the ground also... and the opening to clean is on the 4ft side... and man! I wish I had thought that out a little bit better!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
I am building an 8X8 coop that is 26 inches high off the ground. I see no problem with it. Of course, mine's not done and I don't know what issues might come up, either! ha! I'm going to enclose a run off of it and put a 12 foot roof over the run, and leave the rest of the run in the sun. I think the sides being removable will be great. I keep debating on that myself, but I figure I'll be able to access the under side of the coop through the run. Going to make it high enough for me to walk into easily, and the height you are talking about raising it.. that will be easy enough to crawl under. I've already crawled under mine several times with power tools, etc... it's roomy! I think it's the perfect place to keep them out of the weather if it's bad or out of the sun if they get hot. Here's mine in progress.... not done, but gives you an idea of what yours could look like since it's the same size and height as mine is.

Edited To Add: My walls are 6 ft high and the roof on top makes it pretty tall. You could get away with 5 foot walls or even a bit smaller if you do a roof line that will accomodate more head room for you to get in and out. I don't have a full sized people door on mine- but I can climb in and out well so far, my door opening is 4 ft wide by 3 ft tall. Plenty of room to get in.

 

[Ole rooster]

The coop I built is 24 inches off the ground and I now wish I had made it a tad taller. I have an area under there that is 4X8 covered in about 3 inches of sand. When I clean it I have to get on my knees and with the sand and the framing I have to drop down a little lower to get under in there. I don't rake mine I use a litter box scoop/sifter and a childs play sand bucket. Same when I clean the coop every morning. I like to know I got the poop out rather than mixed it in. But one thing for sure, under there is the chickens favorite spot to be. Just this morning I let the out of the coop and threw out a little scratch and was walking back to the house and heard a hawk. They heard it to and hit a bee line under the coop. That's their rest area, roll area, and safe place. So glad I built a raised coop.

 

[kevinhannan]

Hi NovaAman,

Hello! Pleased to meet you! Yes, it's my worry too. I suppose the
one thing I am glad to have my injury for is that I have to plan things
so that everyday tasks of cleaning is made as easy as possible!
So far, I believe (removable) large truck wheels on the weight-bearing
joists might make this easier in that I can move the whole coop to
clean under it once in a while, with a rake for in-between times....
I need to sleep/think on this.


Wooah, Hawkeye!
What a ***fantastic*** picture of your mega coop! Do you mind if I
'steal' a few design plans from you? That's an awesome home!
Your info is such that I cannot process it all right now, but need time to
think about it as thers's so much that's right for me and my girls.
A major thank you to you and for your time to reply, esp the photo.
I promise faithfully to post pictures of mine as a picture really does speak
a 1000 words! Major kudos to you.

Hi Ole Rooster!
Thanks for sharing that info - your frustration rings hard with me - I guess
I know I won't enjoy cleaning that way so much but I do appreciate your heads-up
there. I'm thinking now a moveable structure has gotta be the way to go.

Thank you so much, everybody, for your wonderful help.

 

[mtnhens4]

Hi Kevin, We are new to chicken keeping but did a lot of research on this site to get ideas for our coop. We decided on a fixed, raised coop due to the slope to our yard, this is what we came up with

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/82432_2011_0212coopaug20110004.jpg[/img]
It's great for our 4 hens and it's pretty easy to keep clean.
The only problem that I think you might have (besides crawling under the coop) is if you are going to put a drop down door in your coop for your chickens to access the run because it's very hard to keep your shavings in the coop with a hole in the floor:/. As i said , we did a lot of research and that seemed to come up a lot with that design.
Y

ou have some great ideas and this site is a hugh resource, have fun and keep us up-dated. Jean
Our coop is 4 by 6 and the run is 6 by 11.

 

[kevinhannan]

Hi Jean,

Thanks for your reply and your time. Wow! That's a proper palace for just four girls!
I have to admit to being awed by your colour-scheme - up to now I was going for a
egg-yellow and white combo but I think cream and green is just such a classic.

Thanks for your tips - they have really put my head on straight and I love the plan
of the whole coop.

I've already thought about the floor pop-hole and thought to have a 3-inch frame
around the hole itself with the gang-plank being level with the top-edge of the frame
it attaches to. That way the hen steps 'up' to the gang-plank without risking any
harm from the frame itself.

May I ask, I understand from your (great) post that you have a deep-litter arrangement?
If so, what depth have you found useful?

Like you, I'm doing my research, but I got the girls with two days notice to build my coop!
Besides which, I learn better by doing, changing and adapting and then rebuilding the whole
thing once I understand first-hand what's involved.

I'm thinking at this point I'm going to do a BYC page with a link to it in my siggy... let me find out
how, first, though!

Many thanks again, Jean, your help and reply is simply the bee's knees. Replies like yours
give a confidence that you just can't get any other way. I do hope other people at my stage
will find these replies equally useful.

ttfn - Kevin