# How much space under coop?



## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

Thank you for putting up with all my questions! You have all been so helpful for the little things I have been curious about. And with that, I have one more question  I am contemplating building a raised coop with room under for the chickens to walk around and be out of the rain or snow. How much height underneath for average chickens (I think my biggest are going to be brahmas and australorps so those may be large chickens?...) I was planning 2 feet but maybe three feet will be better? They will have a large additional run space that will be about 6’ high so the space under will not be their only space. Thank you!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The reason I never let my birds have access to the underside of the coop was getting them out to go to bed if they didn't want to. And raised coops are great places for predators to hide. Snakes in particular.

I've seen them as high as three feet.

Remember these numbers, minimum 4 square feet of open floor space per bird. No feeders or waters and roosts don't count in that number. The run should be at least double that number.

And don't worry about the questions, it's why we're here. It isn't all fun and games. I think everyone here would rather have things right from the get go so the birds don't suffer for our mistakes.


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

Ugh. Snakes. I was thinking off the ground to help keep mice and rabbits from taking up residence. Was not thinking about anything that might want to live in a larger space underneath.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Mice will get in even way up off the ground unless you line the underside of the coop with hardware cloth. They can climb up the supports easily. 

There isn't much that can be done about snakes. It helps not to have tall vegetation near your coop because they don't care to be out in the open.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

I have one raised coop and yes, Robin is right, getting them out from under there when they don't want to is a nightmare beyond epic proportions. I eventually put up some wire fencing under there to stop them from going under the coop, my best advice, don't do it. Put a plastic or canvas tarp over a portion of their run for shade and protection from the elements instead


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

I only have to visualize myself crawling around in two feet of space trying to grab a chicken to see that maybe that wouldn’t be a good idea. Thank you both for your insight!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I use shade cloth for shade. It allows for air movement but blocks the worst of the sun.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Forget I said that. Mine is on the West side of the pen to keep the sun out. Sounds like you want shade from above and shade cloth won't keep rain out.


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

There will be more than enough room in the run without using the portion below the coop and I will have part of the run covered anyways. I just wasn’t wanting to waste space I guess. But sometimes when you squeeze every last ounce of space you end up with nothing working well. I often say you could compare me to a depression era grandmother. I don’t like to waste anything!  I also lean towards being uncomfortably frugal. Thankfully we balance each other out here and don’t dip too far one way or the other.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

It's really not wasted since the coop is going to be securely occupying an otherwise empty space.


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