Crazy Idea: Staircase Run/Coop

[ChooksinChoppers]

Quote:
That would be a good idea too...make them feel a bit more cozy at night.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

I think your coop idea is very do-able!

I do have one biggie piece of advice and I hope you will understand: paint everything well.

I was once a public works painter. Your wood will last longer with a good coating of paint. I can envision your house back with a nice fresh coat of paint in two colors (wall and trim) or possibly three (add fancy accents like pin stripes!). A well done coat of paint adds value to a house AND painting the coop with the same colors as it is built will make it look like it really belongs.

Chicken math kicking in... How about a coop under each stairs? Fence off the grill area to keep the birds out. There are doors to the interior there, right? Are you planning to have them range the whole backyard? If not, I'd consider a pair of runs extending into the yard.

Your chickies will be very happy!

 

[Joz]

Chicken Math is not a factor. City ordinances limit me to 8, maximum. Well, I'm limited to 4 dogs/cats/poultry per address, and it's a double with 2 addresses, and I'm going to assume it's 4 EACH not 4 TOTAL.

I already have 2 cats and 2 dogs, and my tenants have 2 cats, so TECHNICALLY I'm only allowed 2 chickens. I'm compromising at 5.

Sooooo... this would be the open coop/run area. No additional runs. No enclosed coop. Just a super-secure aviary.

Mostly I'm trying to maximize my yard. It's only about 30' deep from the house.

My house is the big white one in the middle-ish. You can see the fence that used to divide the yard under the staircases. The yard is long and skinny, and crosses behind the blue-house neighbor's lot. That extra width is where my garden is (was hoping for current aerial showing the garden... Google disappoints; tho I do like the angle of this photo).

If I put a proper coop/run in the yard, I'd be giving up a LOT of space.

Paint is on the "to do" list.... it's a really long list right now.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

St-Hubert built a coop under the porch/steps of his storage house. Pics throughout this thread...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=328659

 

[georgiagail]

And I thought his idea was an excellent use of space that is typically just a storage space for stuff people don't really use but "can't" throw away.

It's now bad when I walk out into my back yard and I'm thinking....hmmm; I could put another coop run under my house (and it would be cooler during our hot summer months)..or...how about if I trim a few branches back from that large tea olive that provides so much shade...and build another short coop and run there.

Help!

Seriously, it is very impressive the idea that folks have come up with regarding coops and runs. So many creative folks on this list!

Gail

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

My best friend had a coop like that when we were kids! They had only one staircase off to the left and a porch. They wired in the whole area, dug into the ground and attached along the edge of the stairs, under the stairs and porch. Against the house wall they made a slanted roof over a perch and a few boxes under that. The perch was totally dry, but some water dripped between the boards into the run. Just make sure to use strong wire and dig it in deep!

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

Are you in a historic area? I grew up in NORTH Charleston (the red-headed step child of "The City of") and used to shake my head at all those beautiful houses crammed so close together that you couldn't even see the whole house. I just recently told a friend that lives in the Olde Towne portion of Portsmouth (Virginia) that I thought her house would be just awesome on a one acre lot. At least in Olde Towne most houses have decent sized backyards.

I think I may have played too many civilization building games and wasted many an hour designing cities.

Do you have enough room to drive between the houses if fences were not there?

 

[Mom2sixpeeps]

The are under our deck stairs/landing is 8x8 and I've got a dog igloo and some milk crates in there and my girls love it. It's close enough to the house so I can run an automatic waterer from a hose. I can look out the kitchen windows and see down into their coop and the exterior light at our back door gives them a night light. I'll post pics soon. I think your area is great!!