Anyone have their coop inside their garage?

[vjbakke]

I saw an idea of building a coop inside your garage in a corner, and cutting a opening into your yard/ run area. Has anyone done this? I think i saw something about it in the BYC info on coop designs. We may have a corner big enough to do this. I just wanted to see if others have done this? We live in town and are trying to keep the coop as " private" as possible. This would also give extra protection for the birds in the cold winters ( MN) and we already have electricity in there.

 

[elmo]

The winter before last, before our new big coop was built, I bedded down our chickens in shavings filled dog crates in our garage on below freezing nights. However, I wouldn't let my husband drive his car in there on those nights because of the danger from the engine exhaust. Chickens like all birds have very efficient respiratory systems and can succumb quickly to toxins in the air, much more quickly than mammals of the same size.

You'd have to figure a way around the carbon monoxide problem to get the coop in the garage idea to work, I would think.

 

[backyardmenagerie]

Not my garage, but I did build my coop out of a corner of my barn. I have a 16 x 24 pole barn that isn't used much except for storage and horse stuff, so I built wire-covered walls to section off a quarter, making a nice sized 12 x 8 coop. I used pallets and few 2x4s, and it took about 10 hours all together to finish. I LOVE it!

I have electricity out there, there's a roof over the entrance, and I feel more secure at night knowing that there are 2 doors for predators to get through. I also like how much ventilation there is with the wire walls. There is more air flow than just the area of the coop. Weather is not an issue, in fact most of the construction was done on a cold, rainy day.
I could go on, but you get the point.

I would definitely recommend using your garage, if you have the space!

 

[vjbakke]

Quote:
That's a good point that we will have to consider!

 

[AllAlaskan]

I have actually played with this idea as well. The biggest downfall I see though is that you most likely will have to ventilate the coop IN the garage, which means your garage is going to smell like a chicken coop. This is the Number one reason im not doing this my self.

 

[The Funky Chicken Dunce]

I am curious about this myself, just until the new chicks are old enough to join the flock.