Chicken coop under a deck?

[drumstick diva]

Someone has brought up this topic before and I think the biggest con was insurance carriers consider a coop attached to to a home as a fire hazard, zoning ordinances might prevent it too. In some cases a coop has to be a certain number of feet from any house. You might want to check into this before building.

 

[franklinchickens]

Our coop & run are not under the deck but speaking to the cleaning & smell - we have 4 chickens that free range during the day. I rarely clean my run because they are rarely in it. However, the coop, where they spend each night secured, I clean every day. I used vinyl flooring for the bottom and it cleans very easily. I use a dust pan and a damp rag daily, then scrub it out weekly with some mild detergent. Personally I'd hate to have to climb under something.
A thought: Have you considered putting the coop on top of the deck and cutting a hole with a ladder going down under the deck to the run. You could build small doors at the run so they could free range, then go back inside and go up the ladder to the coop. You would then have access to the coop through doors or a hatch or whatever you choose. Our coop is about 4x4x4.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I was thinking more like having the coop where you picture it but having the run out from under the deck.....

The idea has merit, but everyone here has given you good perspectives. The other point for wanting to get to things is I always have at least one girl who pays her eggs where ever the mood strikes her. And they can be in the most inconvenient places! And you can't leave em there ya gotta go in and get them.

You make wonderful plans for how the whole thing will work and then the chickens make their own!

Mine don't even sleep where we originally intended for them too and we have done several iterations to address both of those issues. I think we're on coop 3.0 and still fussing with the design.

 

[Luzcabrera]

It will work but there are issues.

1. Cleaning the run. It's not enough to have access to your coop, you'll need to clean the run as well.
2. Enough sunlight under the deck for a run. Chickens need some sunshine for egg production, if it's too dark, then you won't have happy chickens.
3. Access to chickens. You'll get a chicken that is injured, and you'll need to get access to them for treatment, so be prepared to crawl under that 4' deck.

My deck is 8 feet high and the area is 16 feet by 24 feet

 

[Luzcabrera]

My deck is 8 feet high and the area is 16 feet by 24 feet

Sorry i forgot to ask, would that work for me?

 

[Krugerrand]

Sorry i forgot to ask, would that work for me?

Welcome! You've responded to somebody who hasn't posted anything in over 12.5 years. You may be better off starting a new thread to get a new set of eyes to your questions.