Would this be a good place to locate the coop

[Arlo]

Hi Again

I was wondering if this would be an acceptable place to locate the coop. This is a stone side parking area that I do not use. I figured it would give the coop a little protection from the Missouri weather.

Thanks Arlo

 

[Dawn419]

Arlo,

Can you move those stones? I think they'll be hard on the chickens' feet and could lead to problems.

Dawn

 

[Arlo]

Well after digging down a bit I hit larger rocks so I guess I am not going to be able to use this spot for the coop, I have a bunch of woods and live on a slope the only place is on the side of the house kinda on a slope. I hope this works.

Arlo

 

[SHELLY]

Where in Missouri? I am in Nevada Mo, between Joplin and KC. Getting ready for my first winter with chickens. Kinda nervous about that.

What kind of coop are you going to build? Is it going to have a floor above the ground?

 

[robin416]

A coop with a solid floor is your best bet in that area. Can you imagine trying to clean that and how bad it would smell because you can't do a heck of a lot to clean it? Having dirt for a coop floor is hard enough but at least it can be turned after putting soil sweeteners on it.

Since you mentioned Winter, ick, I also don't recommend raising the coop off the ground. Remember those cold blasts? With the floor raised its going to make it harder to keep the coop from being just as cold as it is outside.

Also, the solid floor will provide you better protection from predators since you can't dig in that area to bury wire to keep them out.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I would definitely do a solid floor for the coop. For the run, you could try just scraping a thick layer of rock off, mostly the smaller, lighter rock, then put a nice thick layer of sand on top. Sand works very well in runs.

Grass works well in runs, if your chickens mostly free range. If they're confined to the run most of the time, they just destroy it. So, a lot of people use sand in their runs.

 

[silkiechicken]

That's what I was thinking. Put a solid wood floor coop there and for the run, scrape some rocks off and down some sand or other similar stuff. It should work out fine.

 

[Arlo1]

Well I had to get another name for my work puter I have some very sad news the 4 chicks that I had have gone to the big coop in the sky somehow my dog got into my brroder last night and found them very tasty So now I am in need of some egg layers hopefully I can find some soon. As for the run I will scrape off some of the rocks and put a bed of sand down. I have installed a bottom on the coop.

Arlo

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I'm sorry! That's so heartbreaking.

 

[Dawn419]

So sorry for your loss!

Dawn