Raised coup

[MudPie]

Hi
I've seen pics of a lot of coups/hen houses that are raised off the ground. Is there a reason for this? Or is it just a personal preference?

 

[featherfooted]

Mine is raised for 2 reasons. 1- sometimes our yard floods even through there is no creek or stream near by.

and 2- it adds some shade and rain protection. It gets really cool under there in the summer as I spray water under there every few days.

 

[tenderkat]

I've just started building (finally!) my own coop. I did some research prior to my decision to build mine raised. My reasoning is that I've heard it discourages rodents from tunneling under and up in the coop, and also because it can keep the coop cooler in the summer. Depending on how you enclose the run, the underside of the coop can also provide a shady spot for your girls to hang out under. We are also in a 100 year flood plain, so I thought that keeping our coop raised is a good idea for us, just in case. I am building mine about 1 1/2 feet off the ground.

I'm definitely no expert, but I hope this offers some ideas.

Welcome to BYC, I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for the experience and guidance I am offered from other members!!!!!

 

[MudPie]

Thanks for the welcome.

Part of my horse barn has about a 10'x12' 3 sided covered shelter area, probably built for storing hay. So far, I've extended a 20'x10' run off of that for the birds, and currently have a small 4'x4' covered brooder pin that the birds call home. The birds are at 20 weeks, and it's time for the real deal. Since I already have 3 sides, and a roof, I thought building a 4th wall w/ door and windows would be a good use of that part of the barn, and obviously reduce expense of the coup. It would be a ground level coup though. Flooding and rodents are not a problem.

I think I may stick w/ a ground based design unless someone comes up w/ other info talking me out of that.

Thanks!

 

[cnj-tx50]

We are finishing our new coop that we raised off the ground and put expanded flat metal sheets in for the flooring. We raised it off the ground to make cleaning easier and to keep it in the dry. Oor yard is the last one on a downhill slope to the lake and when we do get rain is seems to become a river!