Can a turn a room into a chicken house?

[enidmelanie]

Hi!

I'm thinking of turning our 9 square meter maid's quarters into a chicken house and I'm wondering if the chickens would be happy there? (to me it seems like a luxury home for them )

The room has a separate entrance and I would leave the door open a bit during the day so they can get into the garden. I'd take the carpet out (assume there's concrete underneath) and either leave it like that or put in a PVC floor. I thought about either putting newspaper or PVC under the perches for easy cleaning OR a tray OR even putting the perches in the shower? Would they mind such a sanitary environment? I'd put straw everywhere of course.

Then I thought I could maybe even use the built in cupboard to make the shelves into nesting boxes?

The room has windows that I can leave open for ventilation.

If the idea with the perches in the shower is not good, then the bathroom area can easily be fenced off.

There is enough space that I could put their food and water in there so that during our windy summer or stormy winter days (Cape Town) they can just be comfy inside.

What do you think? Somebody said no way they will lay in a room - but why?

They'd be nice and safe behind a proper door at night, have plenty of space, access to their big outside area and it would be easiest to clean.
My husband is concerned that we will never be able to use the room again in later years because it will smell? From what I've read it shouldn't smell as long as it gets cleaned regularly.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Melanie

 

[WaterFowl209]

That's one wild idea I'd be concerned with how healthy it would be for people having chickens that close but in the end I think anything is possible

 

[enidmelanie]

Hi! Thank you for you reply! The room is actually attached to the garage - not to the main house.

 

[WaterFowl209]

Oh ok that's much better then. I wasn't sure where it's location was.

 

[mandelyn]

The chickens will like it fine and lay there, they're not picky.

The real question, is how much will it cost to alter it for chickens, AND how much will it cost to remodel it after the chickens to put it back into usable shape. Versus the cost of say, building a coop up against the house and using the room for storage.

No matter how clean they are kept, there is still the smell of chickens and bird dust. It just isn't ammonia poop smell. It's birds.

Leaving the door open for access will also invite spiders, rodents, snakes, etc.

You'll need to cover the window openings with hardware cloth or some kind of welded wire to keep it secure from predators.

Protect the walls and ceiling, depending on what it's all made of and how difficult it will be to clean.

It could be done, but I wouldn't want to worry about a remodel afterwards. Typically the chickens have to leave because the humans are moving. If you're moving, do you really want to remodel that space? Time and cost to put it back the way it was. Versus leaving an outdoor coop as is, or converting it to a garden shed, or removing it totally.

If there is a door going into the main house, you'd want to seal it up good and not use it. You don't want bird dust in the house, it's thick, chalky, and sticks to everything.

 

[enidmelanie]

Hi Mandelyn,

thank you for your helpful reply! Ok, so the room will get pretty messed up? Then I suppose it really isn't a good idea. A pity!

I've thought about getting a XLarge dog kennel and turning that into a chicken house, but 1m x 1.2m will only hold four chickens and I would like to get 5 or 6. Hmmm ...

I'm not handy enough to build one from scratch and don't want to spent a lot of money on buying an actual hen house. I must think about this some more.

Thank you, you have been very helpful!

Melanie

 

[DianaM]

I had a bit of the same idea. I was wondering if I could keep my chickens in my garage (attached to the house). I only have 2 chickens. What design would I need then?

 

[DaikaijuTorira]

Hi Melanie, I just wanted to add a bit of a precaution about the mention of newspapers being used.

We tried that with our first duckling, when she was small, in a box, and still living in our bedroom, and found that she would pick at the paper and eat it. She managed to pass the bits of paper she had eaten, but it came out in a rather large ball, undigested. Which would lead me to believe if she had eaten much more it could have led to an impaction.

Chickens tend to pick at everything around them and could have the same problem with newspapers.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Our county has an ordinance about how far the chicken coop must be from the main house, the property line, etc. You might want to make sure it doesn't violate any ordinances before doing a lot of work on it. Just a thought.