why elevated coops?

[Mrs. K]

Perhaps it is do to where we live, but I have never seen elevated chicken houses until I went onto this site. By elevated I mean that there is space underneath the house, it does not sit flush with the ground. Why do people build them that way? Doesn't the floor of the coop get a lot colder with that opening? Just wondering. mk

 

[millebantam]

It's just a more convenient height for the breeder/owner to manage the coop. It's much easier to clean, collect eggs, etc.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

There are probably a LOT of reasons, but for us it was: ONE: a 'portable' building did not require a building permit. TWO: being 'portable' we DO have the option of moving the coop to a different location if we change our plans in the future.

 

[Barred Rocker]

That's the way I build all my coops. First, chickens are birds and they like to be up off the ground. Second it's actually warmer and dryer than the cold dank ground and protects the coop better with less humidity. Third I just think it's cool.

 

[Wildsky]

It also makes use of the extra space, a lot of folks use the area under the coop as a run or part of a run.

I'm thinking about making one similar in style, but I will enclose the bottom part and let my ducks have that. Double the amount of "coop" space for the area of ground.

 

[Anny]

I elevated my chicken house for ease of cleaning. Less bending over.

 

[TipsyDog]

Quote:
Yup - I use the space below the coop as part of the run for their shady area in the summers. Let's them get out of the heat.

 

[artsyrobin]

Ours is part of our porch, the coop and then 16 x 20 run underneath- its cooler for them in the summer and stays dry in the rain- 8 x 16 is under the porch...

 

[dbcooper02]

Another good reason to elevate the coop is that it eliminates a hiding place for vermin.

 

[Freeholder]

My concern with the elevated coops is access underneath if you need to catch chickens. Last year a friend gave me their old hens (they were cleaning out to make room for the new ones this spring) and I spent quite a bit of time crawling under their elevated coop after fleeing hens (it would have been better if he'd thought to catch them after dark the night before). One of my criteria in coop design is making sure that *I* can access every bit of it, both for cleaning and for catching birds or retrieving eggs. Elevated might be all right if it was high enough for a person to walk under, or small and narrow enough for a person to reach all corners from outside.

Kathleen