Chickens on the Patio - Am I Crazy?

[Kay56]

We currently have our hen house and run about 10 ft. from our deck and patio. It is not a problem until it rains and the sand on the run bottom gets wet...AND IT IS VERY STINKY. That is my only issue with having it so close to the house. On a hot day with damp sand the flies and smell is not pleasant. We use a box fan to help air it out. AND I do scoop the poop every day (very hard in damp or wet sand). We have the run covered but blowing rain and dampness do make it in. The coop itself however is never damp or wet and can be sifted like a litter box. We have 6 hens at this time and they free range some of each day for a bit when i can be outside with them. Looks like you will have an awfully large litter box to keep clean. Good luck.

 

[HouseCat]

Legally it's tricky. In most states, it's illegal to keep livestock in your house or in a room/lean-to attatched to your house due to Health Code. But then I'm sure you aren't going to keep 200 chickens in there either. Personally, I don't think chickens are as dirty as their reputation. They're only as dirty as their enviroment. If they were litter-trainable I would keep my roo in the house -I refuse to put one of those stupid looking diapers on him. As long as you don't have police or social services showing up on a regular basis, you should be alright. I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

[fairytails]

I have my rabbits right outside the patio door of the kitchen. It is so easy to feed and water them each morning. I can also monitor how they are doing without continually traipsing outside and have the cat sneak out between my legs and all that entails!

 

[TinaG]

I have revised my plans for the Chicken Patio and decided not to go with enclosing the whole area. Several reasons - (1) the 5+ yards of sand it would take and the difficulty getting it back there (2) 5+ yards of sand right outside my living room door (3) 5+ yards of sand that would somehow work its way into my living room. I really just thought I was going a little overboard. So... I started on a smaller coop in December. Here's a photo I took several weeks ago. I had started the work on the chicken patio by staining the saltillo tile with a water proof sealer and resealing the wood framework of the patio. I didn't realize how faded everything had gotten. It looks so much better even if I wasn't going to make it a coop.

Anyway, since the photo below, I've put up the hardware wire roof on the coop, started working on the sides and am halfway finished with the external nest boxes. I am thinking of naming the coop the "Parellogram Coop" since there isn't a 90 degree angle on it. I am using the most basic tools - a hand saw, a measuring tape, a power drill, a hammer and a good pair of eyeballs. I didn't learn about something called a carpenter's square until I was half-way through. All the coop sketches I've been making over the years - out the window. It's getting built sort of organically, which means I build according to whim, the size of the scrap wood I've got and pure dumb luck. It's a carpenter's nightmare.

 

[TexasLea]

I understand the reasons for your change of plans. I still think that's an awesome patio though! I am looking forward to seeing what you've come up with completed and some happy little hens in there.

Lea