Why are most chicken coops up in the air? flying the coop?
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We don't have any experienced carpenters any more so my daughter bought this "cute" coop and after a few weeks, it tried to leave. While replacing it, was wondering up in the air vs on the ground coops. We live in Michigan.
The wind was just enough to make the grass wave, this wasn't any big storm.
We moved it next to the fence to give it some stability.
Got this old one which needs a floor but has nice thick wood, besides flying our chickens will want to stay warm this winter.
5 answers
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I think most coops are above the ground so that predators (snakes, rats, raccoons etc. don't get them.) We too are in the process of building a new chicken coop for our SW Michigan "farmette" that I call The Small House Under a Big Sky. A few years back we had a quickly cobbled together but lost our girls to the predators (dog/raccoons and owls.) This time we are taking our time and building a new coop that is, hopefully, very safe and sound. Here is a picture of our coop in process. You might want to consider a taller fence with chicken wire (using small hexagon fencing) our main fence is 6 ft. tall and we just added chicken wire all around the old fencing. Those old raccoons can reach right through the large squares in the fencing and pull the chicken's right out. We found one raccoon in the next box sleeping after it ate one chicken and then took a nap in the straw. I LOVE the Mother Earth News Chicken Community blog and The Chicken Chick blog for information and education. So many great tips there. Have fun!!
![White Oak Studio Designs]()
White Oak Studio Designs
on Aug 07, 2014
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I have an idea this isn't going to work, the idea is to put a partial floor upstairs so you can clean it out easier and then side the bottom and keep food in it, I think our chickens would steel it.
![Carole Alden]()
Carole Alden
on Aug 07, 2014
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Chicken coops are in the air because chickens are actually birds...they roost. And it also keeps them safer from predators...and you too. You do not have to bend or squat to gather eggs so you an move faster to get away from critters...particularly snakes! I was raised in the country where we had many chickens...free range...and they roosted in the small trees nearby. Mother had cubbies (open so she could see inside) with hay for the nests. She used wooden eggs to swap out to take the real ones. She kept her hens laying by leaving the wooden eggs in the nest. Occasionally she would see a hen wandering away from the flock. She set the "detective kids" on the trail of this errant creature and when her out-of-bounds nest was located, Mother would gather up a couple of eggs and take them to a light to see if they were "pipping". If they were, she put them back in the nest to let them hatch. This always excited us because we would expect new babies! What things come to mind with chickens!
![Jeanette S]()
Jeanette S
on Aug 07, 2014
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Thanks for all the great information. My daughter put some plastic egg in the nest and we got one real egg the next day and we were so happy. However, my son, sent us a picture on Facebook with a chicken sitting on a large pile of eggs and it really was down at his barn. Here we try our best to make it really nice for them and they go down to the horse barn.
![Carole Alden]()
Carole Alden
on Aug 07, 2014
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I made mine out of pallets, put it up on cement blocks (snakes) with screen bottom for circulation, used deep bed method so I got compost material too out of it also. I put thick insulation between slats with heavy screen as they began to pluck foam out of light screening. I lived in Montana and they were snug and safe.
![Linda]()
Linda
on Jul 10, 2016
White Oak Studio Designs
on Aug 07, 2014
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