Coop attached to house? (sorry very long)

[drumstick diva]

When I started on BYC years ago - people were discussing coops attached to their house or underneath their sun decks. They found out either they couldn't do it because city/town codes prohibited it due to fire hazards (wood shavings, being so flammable etc) or their home insurance policies would be voided for the same reasons. I don't know if this would be the case where you live. But it might be worth finding before you make any changes.

 

[Wise Woman]

I think this is a great idea. I didn't read what you were thinking for as a run. The only issue I can see is feed close to the house and not wanting to attract rodents.

Mostly I see this a good. The chickens by the house can deal with bugs. (My biggest pet peeves are houses with shrubs right by them that have lost of bugs. I've lived in a few like that).

I do hope you will have a return to help and having your animals near will help. I pray your path will bring you to a balance of taking good care of yourself and having the energy to do a few extra things that help you feel confident and loving your life! Hugs and prayers your way!

Thank you so much for your kind words. I have always been a high energy person and so being unwell is extremely frustrating for me. I try to accept my limitations, but I don't like having them. I really dislike having to pile all of my work onto my husband, who already has more than enough on his plate. It makes me feel useless and needy and so being able to care for the chickens myself would make me feel useful and I would be able to enjoy them a lot more during the day.

My husband would make sure the coop has a cement floor and that the run is covered with hardware cloth and made predator proof. I hate mice and rats. We keep our food in metal cans and keep things raked up weekly, so I think we would be ok there. We have rattlesnakes here and so I am always very diligent about not attracting vermin because that would attract the rattlesnakes. My worst nightmare! The run would have a solid roof on it so it could be used all year round and there would be a walkway from our patio to the run so I could get in and out easily. I think it would work well for me. Keep your fingers crossed that hubby agrees. I know he wants his big shed back, so maybe he will say ok.

Cheers!

 

[Wise Woman]

When I started on BYC years ago - people were discussing coops attached to their house or underneath their sun decks. They found out either they couldn't do it because city/town codes prohibited it due to fire hazards (wood shavings, being so flammable etc) or their home insurance policies would be voided for the same reasons. I don't know if this would be the case where you live. But it might be worth finding before you make any changes.

Good point. I will check into that on Monday. The new coop/run would actually be safer fire wise I think because it will have cement block walls on two sides and we would use metal roofing on it. My husband would put in a cement floor in the coop and we use sand in our coop instead of shavings. Right now they are in a wooden shed with a wooden floor with regular asphalt shingles on the roof and wooden fencing around the run.

I also came up with an alternate plan where the coop is not attached to the house, but right off our patio instead. So maybe that will be a better way to go all around. Lots to think about.

 

[BlessedCountry6]

Thank you so much for your kind words.  I have always been a high energy person and so being unwell is extremely frustrating for me.  I try to accept my limitations, but I don't like having them.  I really dislike having to pile all of my work onto my husband, who already has more than enough on his plate.  It makes me feel useless and needy and so being able to care for the chickens myself would make me feel useful and I would be able to enjoy them a lot more during the day.

My husband would make sure the coop has a cement floor and that the run is covered with hardware cloth and made predator proof.  I hate mice and rats.  We keep our food in metal cans and keep things raked up weekly, so I think we would be ok there.  We have rattlesnakes here and so I am always very diligent about not attracting vermin because that would attract the rattlesnakes.  My worst nightmare!  The run would have a solid roof on it so it could be used all year round and there would be a walkway from our patio to the run so I could get in and out easily. I think it would work well for me.  Keep your fingers crossed that hubby agrees.  I know he wants his big shed back, so maybe he will say ok.

Cheers!

Sounds like you are a great chicken owner and this will go well for you. I hope the insurance doesn't through things off.

I understand so much of what you are saying. I am sure I'm not going through the exact things you are but pls know you aren't alone. It is so tough to accept limits for us stubborn folks who would like to do it all and then some more each day. I hope your plans work out well!

 

[kristaschics15]

Thanks Marie.  I certainly appreciate the prayers.  I get so frustrated when I can't go out and care for my animals, so I am hoping putting the coop so close to the house will be very helpful for me.

Kristaschics15, I would love to see a picture of your coop when it is done.  I hope to speak to my husband about this over the weekend and see what he thinks.  It would be helpful for him too if he didn't have to do animal chores before going to work each morning.

Cheers!

I sure will post when done! Need to get back to work on it. I'm not planning on using pine shavings at all and the coop itself won't be attached to the house but the run will be. My dog is a pretty decent pest deterrent and will be using hardware cloth around the bottom but not the entire thing. I hope it's enough to deter but I'm still worried about it. I hate rats and mice.

we also are in rattlesnake country.

 

[Wise Woman]

I sure will post when done! Need to get back to work on it. I'm not planning on using pine shavings at all and the coop itself won't be attached to the house but the run will be. My dog is a pretty decent pest deterrent and will be using hardware cloth around the bottom but not the entire thing. I hope it's enough to deter but I'm still worried about it. I hate rats and mice.

we also are in rattlesnake country.

OMG, we are too. I am soooo afraid of snakes. We had one in our yard one day and I almost stepped on it because I was carrying a basket of laundry and did not see it. I ran into the house and jumped in one leap onto the kitchen counter. I don't know why, but my family thought it was pretty darn hilarious. I couldn't speak and they were too busy rolling on the floor laughing to find out what was wrong.

Hubby has nixed the coop attached to the house bit, so we will be moving it over against the block wall that surrounds the yard. This will actually work a little better (but will cost more to build) as I will be able to access it from our patio. I am still undecided about how to do the coop floor, but I have time to figure it out.

 

[BlessedCountry6]

OMG, we are too.  I am soooo afraid of snakes.  We had one in our yard one day and I almost stepped on it because I was carrying a basket of laundry and did not see it.  I ran into the house and jumped in one leap onto the kitchen counter.  I don't know why, but my family thought it was pretty darn hilarious.  I couldn't speak and they were too busy rolling on the floor laughing to find out what was wrong.  

Hubby has nixed the coop attached to the house bit, so we will be moving it over against the block wall that surrounds the yard.  This will actually work a little better (but will cost more to build) as I will be able to access it from our patio.  I am still undecided about how to do the coop floor, but I have time to figure it out.

We just put the cheapest linoleum we could find in our coop. We just finally got it in. It will be so much easier to clean then the temp tarp we had in there. My hubby is adding on nesting boxes we can get to from the outside. Yay! Guess he is finally tired of climbing through chickens when he helps get the eggs. Lol. We used milk crate and those worked pretty well except they roost on them and that means extra poop in them.
We are adding to our coop little by little. (And by adding I do me finishing it.) One day in the future we will have it painted, a real roof, the window put in, those fun things. Haha. In 5 years maybe we will have it finished. Lol