Chickens pooing on veranda

[Sassychickens4]

I have 4 very sassy chickens who think they’re the boss. They are free ranged in my large backyard, they have plenty of grass, garden, rocks, dirt, bugs and shade in the yard but they love the concrete veranda. Which means there’s A LOT of poo. I clean it almost everyday and spray them with a water sprayer when I see them on there. But they still do it. When they see me coming to the back door they bolt so they know it’s wrong for them to be on there. I swear they think it’s a game.
I have two dogs as well so I can’t fence it off because then they won’t have access to it. I also have a 3 year old son that rides his bikes and cars on the veranda so I like to keep it poo free mostly for him.
I’ve put red and white security tape around the edge of the veranda at their height to stop them. Only worked for a day now they stand on it . I plan to get reflective tape hoping it scares them but they seem to be pretty brave.
Can someone please suggest something that will keep the chickens off but let the dogs have access to it! I was thinking a sensor water sprinkler but it will go off at the dogs and one of them has servear anxiety so I don’t want to stress her out.

Ps I think they think they’re dogs because they have even taken over the dogs beanbag ‍ They nap and groom themselves in it

 

[Shadrach]

I think you'll just have to reign yourself to cleaning up.
The obvious things such as a fence would prevent the dogs and any other animals from using the veranda.
You could try taping a wire around the veranda and running an electric current through it, just a few volts like an electric fence. I did this in my house to stop the chickens from going in the bedroom.

 

[Sassychickens4]

I did think of that! It won’t take long before they realise not to go on there if they get a little shock. I’ll keep it in mind

 

[aart]

I did think of that! It won’t take long before they realise not to go on there if they get a little shock. I’ll keep it in mind

Pretty hard to shock a chicken, all those feathers make them pretty insulated...
...and your child and dogs will be susceptible to being shocked also.
Don't think hot wire is the answer here.

You could fence off veranda and maybe install a dog door flap for dogs.
How big is veranda... and dogs?
Dimensions and pics would help here.

Otherwise, confining chickens is about the only concrete solution.

Oh, and, Welcome to BYC!
Where in this world are you located?
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Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
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[Acre4Me]

Well, you wouldn’t be the first poster that has this problem and figures out that a run is an excellent solution here. You can always let them free range when you are available to shoo them away from the veranda.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum, glad you found us.

I agree, fencing is the only realistic solution. Either you fence the chickens off the veranda or fence them into a run. Not sure how well a pet door will work. Some people put curtains on nests or hang strips on their pop doors for their own reasons and the chickens still go through. Maybe if the flap was heavy enough.

I don't know what your back yard looks like so no idea how you might fence it off to give part to the dogs and the other part to the chickens. I can understand a reluctance in putting up a fence, that is something else to get in the way of mowing. How much does your dogs and chickens sharing the same space affect predator control?

This is a pretty common problem. I don't recall anyone on here coming up with a solution that does what you want, keep chickens out but give dogs access to all of the area. Hopefully someone will see this and tell us how they managed. Until that happens you can try things and see how that works. Trial and error can sometimes find a solution.

Good luck and again

 

[aart]

Maybe if the flap was heavy enough.

Crossed my mind, why I asked size of dogs.

There are also dog doors that have electronic 'keys' worn on the dogs collars,
door won't swing without key in vicinity.
Course chickens could learn to follow dog thru door

 

[paneubert]

 

[Shadrach]

I did think of that! It won’t take long before they realise not to go on there if they get a little shock. I’ll keep it in mind

Mine was taped to the floor with a wide piece of black stick on anything type tape.

 

[Sassychickens4]

I thought the only solution was to fence it off but I was hoping someone had another idea. My veranda is roughly 5mx3m. I have a large dog and a very small dog.
I live in Australia so it’s the middle of summer here. I understand why they like the cool veranda but we have plenty of shade and cool spots in the yard.
I feel guilt if I lock them up, they’re so happy in the yard I don’t think I could do it to them hahaha

We’ve tried to fence them in when we first got them but they just jumped over it haha

Dogs and chickens are civil. They won’t let the dogs touch them but they think they’re the boss of them. My poor dog got peaked in the face the other day for doing a poo near them.

I was thinking of getting very mild shock collars for them so they learn to stay off hahahaha I don’t want to harm them though.