"I am all about ease of operation at a low (financial) cost. If half a dozen hens living in an 8x8 open air coop with a 20x20 run can be clean and happy and easy to clean up after with a dirt floor in the coop (using the deep litter method) and with…"

"I have flood irrigation. I placed 2 layers of cement pavers (just happen to have a bunch!) on the ground to create a solid base for my coop, high enough to stay dry when yard is flooded. I tested it before I put the coop there. I put straw on the…"

"I think a lot of how hard wire is or isn't on an their feet depends on the amount of time the chickens spend on the wire, the gauge (thickness) of the wire and how far they may jump down to it. Thicker is better, shorter distance is better. In most…"

"Berms will be your friend. Definitely the easiest route, although there are irrigation days where the pressure is up really high...on those days there will be more water than normal in your time slot. So, berms might not be enough...unless of course…"

"The neighbors do irrigate so there will be flooding, I'm just gonna have to deal with it. I'm adding drainage to the side of the property so I do have extra soil. The berm does seem the easiest (and obvious) choice. Thanks. I tend to OCD, planting a…"

"I think your easiest and best solution would be to just berm around the chicken area if/when you decide to get irrigation. Wire on the bottom of a coop floor is not good for the chickens' feet and should be avoided if possible. It can lead to foot…"

"OK, so no 4x4's in the ground. So either a coop with a wire floor (1/2"x1" I believe is what I was told) that sits up on blocks, to keep out of the water, or, raise the ground above flood level and work with a dirt floor. In raising the ground I…"

"Ideally I would raise the ground where the coop sits so that it is above irrigation level.

One coop is raised on cinder blocks at the corners. Additional ones in the middle would have probably been a good idea.

For 3 of my coops, I built a solid…"

"I built my coop 2 feet off the ground, with a ramp for the chickens to walk down to graze, etc. I keep a waterer under the coop on a cinder block, and a waterer and food in the coop. This solved 2 problems... 1 the irrigation, and 2, roof rats…"

"I am going to be using a raised coop design, sorry I forgot to mention that before. I still am anticipating using the deep litter method, only up off the ground due to flood irrigation (see my new thread regarding flood irrigation).

I do like your…"

"Where can you buy the food grade DE? Is it clearly labeled 'food grade'?"

"Let's keep this thread going a lil bit more, talk to me about flooring for the coop. I was planning on a solid floor covered in materials to aid cleanup. With the open air design, a 1/4'x1/4" mesh floor seems more appropriate. Thoughts? Who has what…"

"So Chris, what direction should I angle the roof?"

"I hope everyone is checking the internet for deals. Found hardward cloth/welded wire at one site that was pretty reasonable, they had 1/8th, 1/4 and 1/2. There are deals out there. Maybe we can find a wholesaler, think we could round up a few folks…"

"Yeah the turbine would be a passive no-cost attempt at keeping cool. But with the open air design, it's pretty much pointless for me (but not for the rest of you with 4 walls!)

So which end of the roof should be higher, as far as east and west. I'm…"