OK, almost there. Just one question

[DakotaFarms]

Well, I am about ready to start putting everything together. I have the designs drawn out, the spot flagged off and weather permitting should start construction within a day or two. One part of the puzzle still needs to be addressed.

I am going with a 12x12 coop. It is the biggest I can go without a permit needed, and may be larger then I need for 20-25 birds but not by much and I would rather be on the larger side then the smaller one. The run will be 25x25. Now this is far larger then the math says I need but a 12 by 25 run which I had planned to begin with just looked too small.

The question I have is, do I put the coop in the run raised 18-20 inches off the ground to provide cover or do I leave the coop outside the run and just cover a portion of the run? I know this may be a matter of personal preference but I was curious if the coop inside the run offered other benefits?


Thanks

 

[emys]

Here are some thoughts.

Pros for including coop in the run:
- Good hawk cover
- Great shade spot
- Protection from storms
- If you don't include it in the run, at least make sure that you protect the underside of the coop from other animals. You don't want skunks and stray cats living under your coop.


Cons:
- they WILL nest under there so if you raise it 20 inches, you will be mostly crawling when you try to clean out that nest - go at least 24inches high if you include it in the run.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well really whether the coop is inside the run or not is kind of independant of the issue of what sort of access to give the chickens to the space under the coop; so I will address those things separately.

First, make sure you have thought through this business of having a 12x12' coop raised 18-20" off the ground. I presume you will be using pole-building construction, that's the only safe way to do it; but even so, it wil be very *tall* and wind-catching, especially if you go with the common coop profile of 8' from floor to ridge of roof (that makes the whole coop 10' tall). So you would not want to do this in a real windy location, or if you did, you would maybe want to use those Bigfoot type anchors on your post bottoms when you set them.

You probably will not want to let the flock have access to the whole area underneath the coop. Reason being, if you do, eventually you will have to go under there yourself (retrieve eggs, retrieve sick or injured bird, fill in dusting holes that have become nasty, etc) and even with 18-20" of clearance you will be basically on your belly and probably not happy about having to go to the middle, let alone the back corners, of a 12x12 area

I would suggest, depending on how hot your summers are and how resistant to getting muddy your ground is likely to be, that maybe you leave them a maximum of 4' or so access to the underside of the coop, if at all.

Really, you can fence off whatever part (or all) of the underside of the coop you want, no matter how much of the coop is inside or outside the run fencing. (Tho if you are doing it partway under, I would suggest installing any apron or buried fencing BEFORE putting the floor on the coop, otherwise it will be extremely obnoxious to try to do!!!)

So to me the major consideration in terms of how much, if any, of the coop is "inside" the run fencing comes down to the tradeoff between how much area you enclose with X amount of fencing, versus giving the chickens the opportunity to use the coop as a windbreak from different directions of wind.

if the coop is basically in the run (so there is one exterior wall allowing you to access the coop without walking thru a pooey muddy run, but the run fence goes straight out in both directions from the corners of that wall) then the chickens can get downwind of the coop in 3 possible direction. Whereas if the coop is basically outside the run (only one coop wall is shared with the run) then the only way they can get out of the wind is if it is coming from behind the coop.

How much difference this makes depends on your location, climate, yadda yadda, as well as depending on whether you plan any *other* sorts of windbreaks. But, it is something to consider, either way.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat