Basement Coop, outdoor run?

[Chickassan]

I wouldn't even bring it up but those jerks chew wires and it's not an option that you'll never get them you absolutely will.
They'll also bring fleas, and snakes.
You don't need all that going on right where you live.

Hmmm good point

 

[Chickassan]

Live catch trap, the tin cat type not those single catch plastic things.
Firstly it won't hurt the chickens or you.
Secondly the mice usually freak out and die so no ick factor.
Thirdly alive or dead pop that thing open and shake it out for your birds and they'll love you for ii.
Only way I'm dealing with them without hurting anything else.

In my house, that is where we notice mice first before they even get into the main house. They may hang out in the basement rather than come into the house, but no….just no. I hate mice as it is and it’s not like I can put snap traps down there with chickens.

Granted I will have mice in the coop but out there, there are other things I can do…and the garter snakes we have will help(though I haven’t physically seen any yet. We have only been in our home since the begging of the year. But i know they are around, lived in the area almost my whole life. But i don’t want mice making a home in my home.

 

[elmo]

If you can work out the ventilation issue and the basement as it exists today doesn't have a moisture problem, I'd say go for it.

But then, we have been keeping a small flock of elderly bantams in our indoor bird room...right inside out house...for several years.

It does get dusty particularly during molts, so we've got a large air filter operating inside that room. There's no smell because we remove manure daily to be composted outdoors. We use a poop tray under the roost, and spot clean the shavings.

Before we moved our old gals indoors, they lived in an outdoor coop with attached run for ten years. Because I used welded wire with 1/2" by 1/2" openings everywhere, we never had a single mouse inside the coop or run. Outside the coop/run, sure. But never inside. There was no way for them to get in. So mice are not an inevitable problem.

I don't have any experience with deep litter. We always used sand in our coop outdoors and scooped droppings out of the sand. You might want to consider sand bedding rather than deep litter...keeps things drier.

Other people have raised some good questions about whether there are other hazards in the basement (such as wires, loose insulation, etc.) So you should go around your space with a critical eye.

In my experience roosts certainly do get manure spattered, but the thin plywood that forms the inner walls of our outdoor coop is fine after a decade of use. If you're concerned about this, you could always line the walls of your basement with something easily washable, like those polywood plastic panels.

 

[NaperLix]

That amount of space is equal to a battery cage,be a horrible life for intelligent chickens.They need space to play and explore.Space for a good sandbox,things to jump on.

 

[NaperLix]

Every time I get near a deep litter method ,I run for fresh air .
I think it’s just laziness method.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Not that you had me at basement, but you for sure lost me at deep litter in a basement. Moisture damage is real no matter how much ventilation and the invitation to wood destroying things (overhead, joists?) My house had pot grow in the garage/basement for only 2 years before I bought it. The entire brick and concrete garage and basement had to be redone. If you're ever planning to sell your house this is just a terrible idea. If you're not planning to sell your house this is still a bad idea. There are so many ways to do a coop on the super cheap to no cost. My first coop for 6 hen's cost $25. Pallets, junk, free stuff on Craig's list. You Tube video's of people finding free sheds that other people just want to get rid of. And of course right here on BYC, in the Coops section you'll find very creative way's to incorporate a small coop.

 

[Vicker]

Deep litter will still smell and be very very dusty. Breathing the dried poop dust and running the chance of it drifting into the house is something I wouldn't want to do. Maybe someone has an old tool shed or something you can repurpose into a coop. You can do an open air coop style. Just add some hardware cloth in front and some roosting boards.