coopp design idea

[FatherRoo]

Alright, so after these incidents with something killing all are hens. Are only surviving one is my white crested black polish hen. She had a cold and came inside when the others started dieing, thus why she was so weak.

So yesterday, my mom and dad(People I pay rent to and have the chickens for cause they've got the property) brought up how I should put in the old Ferret cage and put my hen in,there. Now me and my dad are thinking of building a two story indoor coop for her. As wide as the ferret cage, but taller, with a grate at the bottom and a sliding box for all the droppings to collect into. What do you guys think?

 

[jetdog]

Mine will never be in my house, for 8 weeks when they were chicks the dust and smell, I got enough of that, if I were you building a coop in the house you might as well build a better stronger more predator proof coop outside, there is a reason chickens live outside. IMO

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t have chickens in the house either and my brooder is in the coop, but some people do, caged or free to roam, some diapered and some not. It’s not my thing but to each their own. We all have our different goals.

Some things I’ll mention I think you should consider. Chickens give off dander, bits of feathers or skin that fly through the air. Some people are allergic to that, some are not. It will help create dust so expect extra dust on things.

Chickens scratch a lot. Their scratching can stir up dust if they have anything to scratch in. That could be dirt or bedding, that could be dried poop. Expect a little extra dust in the house.

Since they scratch they will throw stuff through wire. That could be bedding or poop, dried or not. I suggest solid sides high enough so she cannot scratch things out of her cage. I’d question a two-level cage for that reason unless you put up scratch protection at both levels.

Chickens are social animals. They do like company. Usually that is another chicken but it might be another house pet or you and your family. She may be happy with that. But if she is left alone, don’t be shocked if she gets lonely and pretty vocal. It’s surprising how loud one can get.

It’s possible there could be a smell. That would come from the poop so you’ll have to manage that. You’ll have to keep her coop/cage clean. That means extra work for you or your family if you get tired of doing it. The wire bottom and sliding drawer is a reasonable idea, but the bottom of my elevated grow-out coop is ½” hardware cloth. I can keep chicks in there until they are maybe 12 to 14 weeks old, then the poop no longer falls through that wire but starts to build up. Yours is a bantam, not full-sized like mine. I don’t know what size wire it would take for the poop to fall on through. I’d think something with 1” holes would probably be big enough for your bantam but I’m not sure. And don’t worry about her walking on wire. It won’t hurt her.

It’s always rough when something kills some of your chickens. I wish you luck with this one.

 

[FatherRoo]

Yeah. But she's not a bantam. She's a white crested black.polish hen. I want to have her as an indoor chicken because we HAD a predator proof chicken coop, but that,doesn't stop the teenage boys from last week breaking it open and trying to,sick their dog on are birds. She is quite literally are last chicken, and plus all are animals love her. Are four cats will sleep ontop of the ferret cage at night with her. And she squawks at the door when are dogs bark, plus she loves playing with this little bell thats ment for ferrets thats in the cage too. So she's not lonely, and I thought of a two story coop, jut for a place to put the nesting box and feeding items, then the bottom area for her to run about and stuff.