Open Bottom Coop

[RoyalChick]

I'm thinking that the coop inside the completely enclosed run would have NO floor. In other words, the chickens would just walk underneath it and climb up into the roosting laying boxes and roosting bars. Any excrement would simply fall to the ground below where from time to time I could simply rake it from the ground. Their protection would not come from the coop inside, but from the completely enclosed run which will have both chicken wire and chain link fence and be enclosed ALL around. We have coyotes, fox, and a variety of snakes.

Certainly a coop inside a completely secure run does not need any security.
However, that simply means you need a skirt all around your secure run to stop diggers tunneling in.
Also, chicken wire doesn't really deter anything but chickens. Many people use hardware cloth (which is a tad pricey). Chicken wire plus chain link is definitely better than either alone, but something like a weasel would be able to get through an arrangement like that.

 

[KJ1]

Thank you for the reply. the perimeter is protected from diggers with concrete. I have never seen a weasel where I live in Southern California. I will also have an electric wire around it.

 

[RoyalChick]

Thank you for the reply. the perimeter is protected from diggers with concrete. I have never seen a weasel where I live in Southern California. I will also have an electric wire around it.

Hope it works. Just FYI you don't often see weasels anywhere - they are elusive critters - but you have several types of weasel in Sothern California. Maybe not where you live, but they are certainly all over CA.

 

[KJ1]

Hope it works. Just FYI you don't often see weasels anywhere - they are elusive critters - but you have several types of weasel in Sothern California. Maybe not where you live, but they are certainly all over CA.

Thank you. Maybe I should consider a secure coop within what is hopefully a secure run. I only have five baby chicks, so I guess cleaning it won't be such a big deal.

 

[KJ1]

Hi all,
I am new to the forum and chickens... but keep parrots and finches. Im contemplating keeping a few chickens and I am considering various designs for my coop. I would only have 4 -6 chickens. For the coop however, I was thinking for the bottom instead of having a solid board, i would use hardwire mesh say .5" square, with a poop tray underneath that would slide out for easy cleaning and disposal of litter - of course the wire would get a scrape and clean every now and then... This way poops would just drop thru to the poop tray which would be add to ventilation because the tray would be underneath the coop and im hoping would simplify the process. would there be any problems with this?

I am curious how things worked out for you. I live in warm Southern California and I am considering a coop with NO bottom within a secure chicken run. This way, all I have to do is rake below the chicken coop. My run is on concrete where I plan on having a thin layer of dirt which from time to time I can shovel out and replace with fresh dirt. We also have plenty of fruit trees which could use the fertilized dirt.

 

[RoyalChick]

Thank you. Maybe I should consider a secure coop within what is hopefully a secure run. I only have five baby chicks, so I guess cleaning it won't be such a big deal.

If you secure it with a skirt outside the coop then you can still be directly on dirt and don’t need to clean.
I haven’t cleaned my coop in five years. Sometimes I dig out a bucket of compost for the roses but the poop just disappears into the bedding and becomes one with the dirt.