Advice on how to build a coop under my deck

[laceykins]

I'm building ky first coop and getting my first chicks in the next month or two. This is where I'm thinking about building the coop...by enclosing this area under the deck, and making the smaller area up against the house their run. Does anyone see any reason why I shouldn't build the coop in this space? Any brilliant ideas?

 

[hennible]

My chickens are right up against my house beside my deck. I do not find any problems with predators or smells, I actually find that having the animals so close to my house deters predators. Good ventilation and proper management of the bedding is going to prevent any bad odors. I think it's a great place to have your birds since there's already a roof. I find having them so close to my house means I collect the eggs more often clean more often and feed them more food scraps. I've never had a rodent problem because I keep a lot of cats so that might be something you want to consider, feed storage.
To quote Joe Salatin, if you can smell manure you're managing it wrong...
I think you're still going to need four walls and sub roof under your deck, lots of ventilation the rule of thumb is apparently one square foot of venting per bird. The sub roof could just be hardware cloth. I also find the close proximity of the birds means it's a lot easier to run power to your coop, and depending on your climate you may want heated waters, a light to keep them laying in the winter and some sort of heat source possibly. Water in the coop... you probably gonna want a closed nipple waterer because you don't want extra water vapor causing humidity problems. I think digging down and putting in hardware cloth all the way around the outside of your coop is a great idea, keeping things that dig from digging their way in to kill your chickens.
Another benefit of their close proximity is being able to hear when something is going on, if your birds set off an alarm call it's easy to hear and easy to get to them before something bad happens. Personally I love poop trays under my roosts even if you're doing deep litter they're handy. Poop trays that sit in a frame can be popped out and dumped every day are great. I also really love rollaway nesting boxes so consider adding that to your build, rollaway boxes keep the eggs cleaner and prevent egg eating. Also if you build it right and have enough space in the rollaway compartment you can leave egg collection for a few days if you have to go away... All that said from time to time you coop will get dirtier than you want it to and it may smell it happens to everybody. But as soon as you can smell it you know you need to clean it. Make sure you know what bedding method your gonna want to use before you build and accommodate for being able to shovel it out, make sure a wheel barrel can fit inside it or if you do want to build one of those little backyard style coops make sure you can open it up and scrape all the litter out easily...
Sorry this is so long I just really like the idea!

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

I keep my birds as far from my house as possible, just because their food and eggs can and will attract pests like snakes and mice, despite your best efforts. Do you have space against the privacy fence? That might be a better option.

 

[Nwchickma]

I have thought for a while this would be a great space saver but I think it would be hard to get in there and clean. I only have 3 chickens and if I go more than a day or 2 without cleaning it gets stinky, especially on hot days. That might make hanging out on the deck or opening the windows not so great.

You'd also want to dig and bury hardware cloth along the back of the deck where the lattice is so critters can't sneak in, not sure how you'd get under there to do that.

 

[Free Feather]

I do not see an issue with it as long as you can make it a bit easier to get down into to clean.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I'm building ky first coop and getting my first chicks in the next month or two. This is where I'm thinking about building the coop...by enclosing this area under the deck, and making the smaller area up against the house their run. Does anyone see any reason why I shouldn't build the coop in this space? Any brilliant ideas?

I would be more inclined to build a chicken tractor that you could wheel under your deck with a large door for easy cleaning. It would be a simple to relocate if things do not work out under your deck..

 

[hennible]

Thats a great idea... IMO

 

[laceykins]

Great advice! I like the idea of them being close to me & the house for all those reasons. I especially like having a deck above the potential coop because we get really bad hail storms in the summer, and I think having that extra protection above them will mean less pounding hail and scary noises on the roof for the chickens. I also like that the run would be up against the laundry room window, which I don't think you can see in the pictures, but it's there. I can see hem and talk to them when I'm doing laundry, lol. That is a fantasy I have been having lately, lol! I like the idea of putting hardware cloth under the coop.

 

[laceykins]

I'm reading all of your posts and the wheels in my head are turning! I really appreciate advice!

 

[Fantino123]

We have a coop We would like to put it under the Deck! To keep the chickens safe from Neighbors Dogs!