Why are ready-made coops off the ground? Insulated? Cooling?

[silkeysandra]

Wouldn't it be warmer in winter to have the coop on the ground?
I don't think any of the coops I have seen advertised are insulated, don't they need to stay a little warm in winter???
What do most people use to heat/cool coops like the kit or pre-built kind?

 

[wombat]

If you build them directly on the ground, they can get wet floors in many climates. Also, if you build directly on the ground, unless you build on a slab or otherwise improve the foundation, you'll likely get small critters living under the floor.

If you build on stilts, and are in a cold climate, you can stack straw bales around the base on the windward sides in the winter for warmth.

We built our coop with an inside and an outside wall, and put R13 insullation between the walls. Insullation works in the summer, too. The coop is in the shade, and stays cool all day. (Think beer cooler!). ... in the winter, the leaves are off the maple tree over the coop, so it gets sun.

 

[Marlinchaser]

Quote:
they are off the ground because it is easier to move them that way.

you can skirt the outside to stop(reduce) any drafts.

most you can get insulated or do it yourself, but they advertise the bare bones model to get you to LOOK, and hopefully add to that. Unless you are in Extreme Cold climate uninsulated will work fine.

Nothing used to Heat, and Cooling is by haveing coop in the shade.

 

[Marlinchaser]

Quote:
That is why you get a prebuilt coop, so you have more time to think of that(and get into) the beer cooler.

 

[wombat]

You got that right. I think I spent about three times as much money and ten times as much time on my coop as I had planned to.

 

[patandchickens]

Chiefly I think because it is easier to make a kit with a raised floor (the best way to make a dirt-floored kit is as a pole building; if you don't, you need to do some serious digproofing of the floor).

I would bet that most of the people *looking* for a kit coop would also be turned off by the idea of a dirt floor, for a whole assortment of reasons, some quite reasonable, some maybe less so.

Finally, a raised floor coop is appropriate ANYWHERE -- a dirt- or slab-floor coop is only appropriate in places that absolutely never flood, not even in t'storms or spring snowmelt.

The issue of a dirt (or slab) floor and winter temperatures is actually complicated. It will keep the coop a bit warmer for the first part of winter, but then (the timing depending on coop size, among other things) later in the winter, and into the spring, it will keep the coop COOLER than if it were raised-floor.

Hardly anyone uses anything "to cool" their coop, other than intelligent siting and lotsa ventilation -- exception being that in very hot dry climates, a swamp cooler (misting fan) is sometimes used).

Heating the coop is of highly debatable utility unless you are in the FAR north (farther north than me!) and/or have climate-inappropriate breeds and/or poor coop management (humid air b/c not enough ventilation). If you do heat the coop, solar is the best first choice (using as much heat capture for nighttime as possible); it doesn't hurt to have electricity available if all else fails but a zillion more people USE electric heat in wintertime than NEED it.

If you want a kit coop with no floor, what you want is a SHED (garden/yard type shed). You'll get more for your money than buying something labelled 'coop' anyhow

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[cockadoodle]

I came up with 6 reasons why I wanted to build my coop elevated.

1) provides outdoor shelter from rain/snow/blazing sun and a covered area to protect their feed/water from the same.
2) increases the overall run square footage without increasing the footprint of the coop / run.
3) ease of maintenance - when I open the human door, the floor of the coop is more at my waist level, makes it easy to clean, gather eggs, check on the chickens without having to stoop over as much.
4) harder for mice and rats to get in and I can easily detect or repair any damage if they do
5) protects my wood subfloor from ground rot also 6+ inches of bedding provides better insulation than the cold ground will in the winter
6) coop is on sloping ground, so to make a level floor, I had to elevate the down hill side of the coop, I figured I might as well raise the whole thing more and take advantage of that otherwise wasted space.

If I had to do it again, I'd do it the same way. Only thing that would change is if I built a much larger coop, elevating the whole thing at that point would be a royal pain. (might do a tri level with a walk out basement for the next one

 

[Anny]

I think most prefab coops are built off the ground because it's easier for some one doesn't want to build a coop to just put cement blocks under the legs of the coop rather then under a whole huge coop (or to lay down a large cement slab.)

You don't want wood to be touching the ground cus it will eventually rot.

Most coop in colder climates should be insulated in my opinion. But no most prefab are not insulated. You could insulate then your self by putting some foam board with plywood over it (to keep the chickens from peaking at the foam board)

If you live in a cold climate and you get cold hardy birds. You should have to heat your coop.

 

[chookchick]

I think it's because they are tiny, and they look more reasonable if you put them off the ground, makes them look bigger!

Frankly all those cute little coops are just too dang small. I started with a playhouse coop and quickly learned to despise it. A coop should be off the ground, but just enough to provide circulation underneath for all the reasons Patandchickens says.

A REAL coop is one that you can walk into and hang with the chicks. Pull up a chair and watch them lay. Not that I'm opinionated about coops

, but those tiny little coops are just a starting point......work good for 2-4 week olds.

 

[flannelberry]

We don't have ready made but we did build off the ground. That way, the ducks have shelter in the winter (underneath) without making a HUGE mess of the chicken space. Works really well. A couple of strawbales on the windy side and everyone's happy.

Also - people buy ready made coops for lots of reasons. A friend of mine bought one because she's a single mum who's a busy professional and has to be to keep up the mortgage payments on her gorgeous place. For her, the trade off was the time to build the coop versus being with her kids and the livestock. Of course we got her COMPLETELY addicted to chickens and now her coop is a brooder coop and the garden shed will be the real coop because she will outgrow it this spring. She couldn't care less about the dirt floor, she just wanted something safe and secure for her peeps and that was the best way to get it.