Set up advice

[Werehen]

jumped into raising chickens without thorough research. Bought a prefab coop.

After reading here, we will be placing 2 inch wide cement slabs underneath and wrapping it with the cloth fencing you recommend (forget the full name).
We will be placing it by the house in a fenced in yard (where you see the pieces of a prefab dog house leaning). That way we can run a heat lamp from the house if needed. Any suggestions or corrections?

 

[Werehen]

Should the slabs be beneath the run? The girls will be loose in the yard as much as possible.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What's the purpose of the concrete slabs? To keep the wood from moisture?

Also with the heat lamp, are you planning to brood outside or is this for older birds? If the latter, what's your climate like? You likely do not need to supply heat.

 

[Werehen]

The blocks are to keep predators from burrowing into the coop. We live in NW PA so we thought about placing a heat lamp in the coop for those especially cold winter days.

 

[rosemarythyme]

In lieu of the concrete you could take some welded wire or hardware cloth and apron it out or bury it. Concrete can be good against rats and mice but I think a slab would be the way to go for that, not just pavers, where you might start having issues with poop ending up wedged between and under the blocks.

Cold isn't usually a huge issue for chickens. Cold + moisture build up from lack of ventilation is. And heat lamps are probably a top cause of coop fires, so you need to take that into consideration... do the birds really need heat, or is it that you feel better about providing heat?

Regarding ventilation, hard to tell from the manufacturer photo but you'll want to check how much ventilation that coop has and add more if needed. Ideally you want a minimum of 1 sq ft per bird or 10% of floor space, whichever is greater, but that can be difficult to achieve in a smaller coop.

 

[HenHouse4Life]

We live in Michigan and do not supply heat to the coop, not even on the coldest winter days. If you purchase cold hardy breeds and provide them a decent coop that gives good wind break they'll be fine temp wise. Heat lamps in a coop can be dangerous IMO.
I, personally, would use hardware cloth as an apron all around the coop and axe the cement idea.
Be prepared to make adjustments or fixes to your pre-fab. Many are very costly and cheaply made (sorry).
Ventilation is key. Make sure there's plenty of it.
Those little tiny hinges on the nest boxes will be broken within a years time as they come with very tiny screws. If you're sticking with a pre-fab I would suggest going to your local hardware store and purchasing your own hinges, screws, locks etc. and using those instead of the ones your coop comes with.

 

[Werehen]

That’s the kind of information I need. Thanks both of you.

 

[HenHouse4Life]

That’s the kind of information I need. Thanks both of you.

If you think of anything else please feel free to ask. You'll find great information from great people here on BYC.
What breeds are you considering?