Brick bottom to coop?

[jermajay]

We can get free bricks from our builders, they're a bit broken but most are whole. I was thinking of building a chook coop where the bottom and maybe 60cm or so up is fully brick - to keep out mice, rats, foxes, etc - and then having wood for the coop and mesh for the run. Wood for the coop because I don't know how well the brick would stand up to wind and whatnot, and I like having external nest boxes + I drill perches into the walls & wouldn't be able to do that with a fully brick coop. I do deep litter so the bottom 30cm or so would be covered, leaving 30cm above ground - this would also mean I could keep chicks in there without them escaping.

Has anyone done this before and will it work? Not an urgent project but interested in y'alls thoughts.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It sounds like a good plan.
I assume the bricks are for building and not pavers.
The only consideration is the foundation which is dependent on where you live. The colder it gets there, the deeper your foundation has to be to get below the frost line.
There is no reason the brick portion of the walls wouldn't outlive you. Wind and rain won't hurt it. I assume you are going to make it real brick walls mortared in place. It isn't hard to do.
Easter Islanders built chicken coops from stone and they stand to this day. That is some 1500 years.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing.

No reason not to build a brick coop if you want a modest project in order to learn good masonry skills. You should be able to find articles and videos about how to build small brick structures through the tremendous resources available on the internet.

Good design and ventilation will be critical though since once the mortar has hardened you won't be able to alter anything the way you could with a wooden structure.

 

[jermajay]

It sounds like a good plan.
I assume the bricks are for building and not pavers.
The only consideration is the foundation which is dependent on where you live. The colder it gets there, the deeper your foundation has to be to get below the frost line.
There is no reason the brick portion of the walls wouldn't outlive you. Wind and rain won't hurt it. I assume you are going to make it real brick walls mortared in place. It isn't hard to do.
Easter Islanders built chicken coops from stone and they stand to this day. That is some 1500 years.

Yep building bricks - and I live in Australia so no frost or snow. It would be pretty cool if this one lasted 1500 years

 

[jermajay]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing.

No reason not to build a brick coop if you want a modest project in order to learn good masonry skills. You should be able to find articles and videos about how to build small brick structures through the tremendous resources available on the internet.

Good design and ventilation will be critical though since once the mortar has hardened you won't be able to alter anything the way you could with a wooden structure.

That's true - I'll have to do some research on ventilation, in the past we've just stuck a window in the wall away from the wind. Would I be able to make a design & post it here for critiques? (Also I live in Victoria, Australia)

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Yes! This is a great place to post coop designs!

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm not very familiar with the different parts of Australia. What are your summer highs and winter lows? Is it a wet climate or a dry one?

The usual guidelines suggest 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation per adult standard-sized hen with the numbers calculated based on 4 square feet per bird in the coop (sorry, I don't have access to my metric conversions for these numbers right now).

I'm in a hot, humid climate and have found from experience that if I can't put my coop into deep shade I need at least two or three times the suggested minimums to keep the coop under 100F on a 90F day.

AirFLOW is critical in any climate:

 

[saysfaa]

You might consider lime mortar instead of the more common cement mortar if you would like it to last 1500 years.