CovertChickenCO
Hatching
Hello, all! I'm excited to join this community--I have already learned so much and I've only had my baby girls for less than a week. A little about me: I live in Colorado, in a great Ag community, but in a neighborhood with a HOA that likes to crush hopes and dreams. So my husband and I are raising "Covert Chickens" which will hopefully fly under the radar in our beautiful, indoor basement coop. That's right, we are planning on keeping our girls in the basement!
Now, I can already hear the negative responses, so I want to address a few things:
1. We have built a beautiful 40 square foot coop, and our basement is well ventilated with huge open windows to let in the breeze and tons of natural sunlight. We also have a deep base for the coop (over a tiled floor for easy cleaning), so we can have pine shavings, mealworms, etc. just like an outdoor chicken coop. We can even grow grass beds to bring inside for them!
2. Should we be "discovered" we have a back up plan to give our chickens to a dear friend who has a (HOA approved) flock of her own.
3. Our girls will be free to roam outside on an daily basis when it is warm--we have a big back yard with high fences!
4. We also have supportive neighbors, several of whom have "secret chickens" of their own--there is just one gentleman who lives up the road that likes to tattle on everyone, hence why the chickens will stay safely and secretly housed in their indoor coop. Best of all, we can control the temperature and don't have to worry about predators, water freezing, frostbitten combs, etc.
5. And yes, I have asked the HOA to change this covenant and even wrote up a suggested protocol, but was told by the president that he moved here specifically to get away from chickens "because they are gross." I'm still working on it, but you can imagine it is an uphill battle from here.
So that's where we're at--starting our adventure with four chicks in tow. I'm hoping to find crazy chicken ladies like me, and maybe some fellow secret chicken keepers on this site. Y'all have been so helpful already!!
Now, I can already hear the negative responses, so I want to address a few things:
1. We have built a beautiful 40 square foot coop, and our basement is well ventilated with huge open windows to let in the breeze and tons of natural sunlight. We also have a deep base for the coop (over a tiled floor for easy cleaning), so we can have pine shavings, mealworms, etc. just like an outdoor chicken coop. We can even grow grass beds to bring inside for them!
2. Should we be "discovered" we have a back up plan to give our chickens to a dear friend who has a (HOA approved) flock of her own.
3. Our girls will be free to roam outside on an daily basis when it is warm--we have a big back yard with high fences!
4. We also have supportive neighbors, several of whom have "secret chickens" of their own--there is just one gentleman who lives up the road that likes to tattle on everyone, hence why the chickens will stay safely and secretly housed in their indoor coop. Best of all, we can control the temperature and don't have to worry about predators, water freezing, frostbitten combs, etc.
5. And yes, I have asked the HOA to change this covenant and even wrote up a suggested protocol, but was told by the president that he moved here specifically to get away from chickens "because they are gross." I'm still working on it, but you can imagine it is an uphill battle from here.
So that's where we're at--starting our adventure with four chicks in tow. I'm hoping to find crazy chicken ladies like me, and maybe some fellow secret chicken keepers on this site. Y'all have been so helpful already!!
