Why are coops built off the ground?

[cluckmecoop7]

I have mine raised to the girls can go under out of the snow or rain, and it gives them shade on hot days. Also snakes can be a problem so raising the coop off the ground can help with that.

 

[Mamatomany123]

Ours is 4 feet off the ground. We designed it this way for predator safety and strength. We suspended it from the roof. It’s very strong, nothings getting in that sucker. Plus ease of cleaning and additional shade and run space.

The pros in suspending it far outweighed any cons.

I see what you're talking about for the ventilation. I would change that chicken wire out with hardware cloth though. A raccoon will scale that wall like its nobodies business and bust right in in a matter of seconds.

Also, are those your nesting boxes? I'm confused with how that will work.

 

[BabasCoop]

I see what you're talking about for the ventilation. I would change that chicken wire out with hardware cloth though. A raccoon will scale that wall like its nobodies business and bust right in in a matter of seconds.

Also, are those your nesting boxes? I'm confused with how that will work.

A raccoon can’t get in, our coop is inside a fully enclosed run where the sides are double and triple layered with some combination of plywood, cattle fencing, chicken wire, and chain link fencing.

Additionally we don’t have much of a raccoon problem. Every neighbor around us has livestock, peacocks, alpacas, cattle, horses, goats, sheep, dogs and free roam chickens. (Mine are not free roam because I’m not that trusting). And our little community almost never has a fatality u less a random dog wanders and gets to a chicken before the guardian dogs get to him. Coyotes, hawks, rattlesnakes and roaming dogs are the biggest threats.


And as far as the nest boxes. Yes, it is a unique set up due to the location of our coop and the existing structures in place we used as a foundation. But basically the chickens will walk up the ladder and they will turn left to enter the roost and right to enter the nest boxes. We can close the coop at the top of the latter so that the chickens will have access to the entire roost and nest boxes while inside.

The pictures above were only of the completed roost part. The other half didn’t get finished completely until last night. When I get home from work I’ll post pictures of the completed coop.

 

[Mamatomany123]

A raccoon can’t get in, our coop is inside a fully enclosed run where the sides are double and triple layered with some combination of plywood, cattle fencing, chicken wire, and chain link fencing.

Additionally we don’t have much of a raccoon problem. Every neighbor around us has livestock, peacocks, alpacas, cattle, horses, goats, sheep, dogs and free roam chickens. (Mine are not free roam because I’m not that trusting). And our little community almost never has a fatality u less a random dog wanders and gets to a chicken before the guardian dogs get to him. Coyotes, hawks, rattlesnakes and roaming dogs are the biggest threats.


And as far as the nest boxes. Yes, it is a unique set up due to the location of our coop and the existing structures in place we used as a foundation. But basically the chickens will walk up the ladder and they will turn left to enter the roost and right to enter the nest boxes. We can close the coop at the top of the latter so that the chickens will have access to the entire roost and nest boxes while inside.

The pictures above were only of the completed roost part. The other half didn’t get finished completely until last night. When I get home from work I’ll post pictures of the completed coop.

Ah ok. I still haven't even added my nesting boxes. Still thinking about placement and suck.

 

[BabasCoop]

Ah ok. I still haven't even added my nesting boxes. Still thinking about placement and suck.

Here are updated photos of our coop as promised. I still have a little painting to do and the main door needs to be installed at the top of the ladder.

So basically they can go up the ladder and our roost is to the left and the nesting boxes to the right (which they don’t have access to yet.

The entire coop is 4 ft off the ground and in our fully enclosed run.

We had a lot of fun designing it.

 

[msmidwick]

My coop is elevated also and we put large hinged doors on the sides where I can clean the floor easily - just scoop the poopy stuff into a wheelbarrow! The nesting area is also easy to grab the eggs as I just open the door -

 

[Tomhusker]

Mine is elevated. Mostly because I thought it would look really cool. But also to save on building costs. A walk in coop is great, but they create a lot of unused space.
Mine is 6x8ish and I can reach pretty much everything from the main door or egg door.

 

[Ted Brown]

I have a Woods 10' by 16' KD coop elevated 3 feet off the ground. Walk-in, access via a 4 step stair and stoop. I built the 4" by 4" support frame separately from the coop itself and then erected the coop panels (built in my garage) on top of that. I used 6" metal flashing between the frame and the panels to deter pests. I wanted the area underneath for run space, also thought it would deter predators and finally stop any rot induced by contact with the ground.

I am very pleased with the result. The only caveat is someone suggested that it could be blown off the frame in a bad wind storm.

 

[3KillerBs]

The only caveat is someone suggested that it could be blown off the frame in a bad wind storm.

Do you have some of this kind of hardware connecting it to the frame?

The stuff used for hurricane reinforcement?

 

[Ted Brown]

@3KillerBs Those are one of a variety of Simpson Strong Ties.

My coop wall and floor panels are screwed to the frame, I did not use hurricane ties. I used eight concrete patio blocks on the ground with 4" by 4" vertical posts, 10" spikes to join frames to posts, if we get a weather event severe enough to worry about I assume the frame will come apart first. My coop is behind my garage and sheltered from prevailing winds but we occasionally get micro bursts that can do damage.

TBH I did not consider it getting blown off, it was a comment made after it was built and I admit I have thought about the possibility since. Decided it was too late to do much about it.