What's the point of raising your Coop off the ground? My Thoughts / Asks

[imnukensc]

- Initial thought: a raised coop with a wire bottom would be easier to clean. 10-Years in thought: getting poop that doesn't go through the wire, off the wire, is a nightmare. Seems like a flat wood bottom with shavings would be a lot quicker/easier.

Sounds like you need larger wire. Pictured is 1x2. Does all the poop fall through? Nope. I use a deck brush on it every 3 weeks or so. Might take 3 minutes tops. You'll also notice the only part of the coop floor that is wire is the area under the roost.

 

[RumneyRoost]

My coop is 36” off the ground. I have no problem getting underneath if I need too. My girls only get to free range when I’m home, so it’s a good use of space when they’re confined to the run.
I place their food under there as well, more protection from rain and snow.
And since it’s out of my way I put a roost down there as well, I can see them all lined up on it from my kitchen window. Even when they’re free ranging they usually head there around 10am for a nap.

 

[BaaKaaawk]

Sounds like you need larger wire. Pictured is 1x2. Does all the poop fall through? Nope. I use a deck brush on it every 3 weeks or so. Might take 3 minutes tops. You'll also notice the only part of the coop floor that is wire is the area under the roost.
View attachment 2066924

Yes, I used way to small wire, no question. I'll use something more like that in the next build (which now that I'm done the daughter's treehouse- is coming up soon!)

 

[Riv-6]

My coop is ground level and just on what was once grass and now is just dirt and the straw I put it in. We’ve had no problems with it!

Love your setup!

 

[Double Yolked]

I found one amazingly good reason to raise my coop 24 inches off the ground.

RATS.
I had 2 coops, one, my first one, raised 24 inches. My second one at ground level on a slab. The winters here are wet and a wood floor is very vulnerable to rot.
I have no issues with rats around the raised coop. But the one sitting on the slab? I have rat burrows all around it. I've dug out burrows, I've snap trapped, I've used every freaking trap I can find on Mouse Trap Monday on YouTube that even looked like it would work. I even moved my flock and gulped down my instinctive dislike of the idea and bit the bullet and poisoned the rats. That worked, for one season, then they came back in force. So, I destroyed the ground level coop, tore up the slab, built a new raised one and ... finally... Rats under control.

 

[Chickenclaude]

All my coops I have build up on stilts... but now I am asking myself why I did that... and I think it goes back to "that's just how I always saw it done". But now 10+ years into chickening and I really can't come up with many benefits. Maybe I'm just missing something I take for granted... but here's my main thought points:

- Initial thought: a raised coop with a wire bottom would be easier to clean. 10-Years in thought: getting poop that doesn't go through the wire, off the wire, is a nightmare. Seems like a flat wood bottom with shavings would be a lot quicker/easier.

- Initial thought: a raised coop would be easier to work with. 10-Years in thought: it is convenient to have the coop at standing level, but that can also be achieved with a ground-based coop. Additionally, when the coop is up in the air, it needs to be smaller/lower which limits the roost options.

- Initial thought: a raised coop will provide better ventilation. 10-Years in thought: I'm sure the open bottom helps, but I have open rafters too and getting good ventilation is easy.

- Initial thought: a raised coop helps with weather/rain/water issues. 10-Years in thought: just getting off the ground at all is adequate, like on concrete blocks. But honestly for ease of cleaning I'm now leaning towards just pouring a concrete slab high enough up to shed the water.

- Initial thought: a raised coop will help with mites. 10-Years in thought: just like my bees, the concept was a wire bottom would allow dislodged mites / other undesirables to get out of the coop... but turns out I don;t have much mite issues and when I do, I just knock them out with Mite powder now.

- Initial thought: a raised coop gives the chickens more space / cover. 10-Years in thought: I let my chickens free range anyway, and they literally never go under the coop. If they were confined in a run, I could see this space as being important, but for me it is pointless.


Sooooooooooooooooooooo... am I blatantly missing something? I'm about to start building an new, large coop and I'm really not seeing a big benefit of having it off the ground. Thank sin advance!

Personally, I like it up..but I also live in Ct where it’s cold and snowy 4-5 mo a year...they can be outside even in the harshest of conditions because I wrap the bottom w clear bubble wrap to let the sun in. For me it works. I free range when I’m home, sometimes use a tractor, and made the new coop also higher. More protection from predators.

 

[speedy2020]

I have free shipping box coop. It raised off ground with 3 piles of cement block stack about 24" high. The bottom cover with 1/2" rabbit welded wire. I used the bottom to raise baby chick, sick chicken, hidding place rainy/snow day, integrate new comer to the block, and other need. The coop was put together since around 2010. It last much longer off ground and keep rat, snake, bug, and other critters out.

 

[Chickenclaude]

Personally, I like it up..but I also live in Ct where it’s cold and snowy 4-5 mo a year...they can be outside even in the harshest of conditions because I wrap the bottom w clear bubble wrap to let the sun in. For me it works. I free range when I’m home, sometimes use a tractor, and made the new coop also higher. More protection from predators.

FYI I too used 1/2” SS wire for the floor thinking waste would, magically drop thru ..so I placed a piece of rubber matting on top that is flexible enough to roll and dump. Easy Peasy.

 

[edeveraux]

I have just the hutch, no attached run. The hutch is placed inside a fenced area. I place the hutch on a pallet just to keep it out of the muck. Keeping the bottom dry will prolong the life of the hutch and level it out.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Personally puts is off the ground so they had extra run space