Too much of a coop elevation?

[B-flock]

We’re turning our daughter’s swing set/playhouse into a coop and run and I’m looking for elevation advice. The plan is to use the playhouse part as the coop, with the nesting boxes inside it and have the run underneath it with hardware cloth, to include the span of swing set. Do you think the 4.5ft elevation would be too high for the chickens? We’d make the chicken ramp go into the run as much as we can, so it’s not too steep. We get tidal flooding in our yard about once a year with big storms, so if we lower it, we don’t want it lowered too much. We don’t have much experience with chickens, so I’m hoping you wise and more experienced owners could give be some insight on what kind of elevation you think the chickens would prefer! Thank you!

 

[Kiraeh]

Chickens like roosting higher up, they'll be happy with the elevation, and being that high will be easy on your back. And they'll have nice shade underneath on hot days.
I would avoid flight less breeds like silkies and maybe large heavy breeds as well, just to minimize the chance of a fall causing injury- you'll likely have chickens jumping on and off the ramp, and pushing each other off when they run out in the mornings. You can also keep those landing areas clear. I think the safety from flooding is worth the risk, which should be fairly manageable. Lots of chickens have no problems flying six or eight feet high, especially game birds of bantams.

 

[B-flock]

Chickens like roosting higher up, they'll be happy with the elevation, and being that high will be easy on your back. And they'll have nice shade underneath on hot days.
I would avoid flight less breeds like silkies and maybe large heavy breeds as well, just to minimize the chance of a fall causing injury- you'll likely have chickens jumping on and off the ramp, and pushing each other off when they run out in the mornings. You can also keep those landing areas clear. I think the safety from flooding is worth the risk, which should be fairly manageable. Lots of chickens have no problems flying six or eight feet high, especially game birds of bantams.

Thank you for your helpful response!

 

[black_cat]

That looks like a great plan! The elevation will be great for flooding. Just seconding what @Kireh said-make sure to have a good size ramp with the area around it clear. You probably want lighter, better flying breeds like bantams. Some good standard breeds could be leghorns. Anything really heavy bodied might injure themselves landing, so avoid dual purpose breeds as they're meant to get large.

 

[B-flock]

That looks like a great plan! The elevation will be great for flooding. Just seconding what @Kireh said-make sure to have a good size ramp with the area around it clear. You probably want lighter, better flying breeds like bantams. Some good standard breeds could be leghorns. Anything really heavy bodied might injure themselves landing, so avoid dual purpose breeds as they're meant to get large.

Thank you so much! I’ll definitely keep the space around the ramp clear. What do y’all think of isa browns in this space? We were told they’re good for first time chicken owners. Thanks again!

 

[black_cat]

Thank you so much! I’ll definitely keep the space around the ramp clear. What do y’all think of isa browns in this space? We were told they’re good for first time chicken owners. Thanks again!

How many chickens do you want? ISAs are AMAZING egg layers of HUGE (I get MONSTER eggs from mine) brown eggs, but a downside is that they have a short lifespan usually caused by reproductive issues. I'd recommend getting a variety of breeds and not just one-having variation in egg color and looks is so much fun!
I'd recommend for standards:
-ISA brown
-Easter egger (chickens that have beards and lay blue eggs. What more could you want?)
-Buff orpington (the golden retriever of chickens)
-Australorp (great personalities and egg layers)
-Leghorns (lay loads of large white eggs!)
-Marans (Lay very pretty dark brown eggs and come in many color variations)
-Polish (very fun funky crests!)

 

[black_cat]

How many chickens you have also depends on how much space you have. You can have more bantams in a space than standards. Standard birds need 4+ square feet each in the coop, and 7+ square feet each in the run. More space is always better!

 

[B-flock]

How many chickens do you want? ISAs are AMAZING egg layers of HUGE (I get MONSTER eggs from mine) brown eggs, but a downside is that they have a short lifespan usually caused by reproductive issues. I'd recommend getting a variety of breeds and not just one-having variation in egg color and looks is so much fun!
I'd recommend for standards:
-ISA brown
-Easter egger (chickens that have beards and lay blue eggs. What more could you want?)
-Buff orpington (the golden retriever of chickens)
-Australorp (great personalities and egg layers)
-Leghorns (lay loads of large white eggs!)
-Marans (Lay very pretty dark brown eggs and come in many color variations)
-Polish (very fun funky crests!)

Very detailed answer, thank you! I’ll keep all of these breeds on my list. We’re thinking 6 chickens or less.

 

[black_cat]

Very detailed answer, thank you! I’ll keep all of these breeds on my list. We’re thinking 6 chickens or less.

Trust me, that number will eventually grow
This is a summary of how owning chickens works:

I'm super interested to follow how you convert that playhouse! Have fun on your chicken keeping journey!

 

[black_cat]

Key aspects of a coop are:
-Access. How do you access the coop for eggs and maintenance? The run? How do the chickens get from coop to run?
-Ventilation. Ventilation, Ventilation, Ventilation. You want to have lots of ventilation to let out ammonia and to keep the air moving in the coop. As far above the bird's heads as possible.
-Roosts. Chickens need to roost at night. You need 1 foot of roost space per bird.
-Nesting. Nesting boxes should be 1x1x1 minimum. The general rule is 1 box for every 4 birds.