Doable?

[CESpeed]

I've seen some wonderful and interesting coop designs and I had an interesting thought and wanted to ask some experienced chicken people what they thought:

I am considering using the area under my deck as a coop. The deck itself is 10 x 12 with head room of 41 - 47 inches (it slopes). I have a garden about 7 feet away which I would put a fence around so that they have run of their coop, yard and garden.

What do you all think? (please ignore stuff)

 

[vehve]

Cleaning might be a bit awkward having to crouch so low, but other than that, I see nothing that would stop you. I don't know what the chickens would think about you stomping on top of them at night though. Also, is the porch covered? Waterproofing it might be a bit difficult. One idea would be to build the coop next to the porch, maybe with egg collection available straight from the porch. This way you could build it a bit higher, and the chickens could use the porch as shade or cover from the elements when needed. How many chickens are you thinking of getting?

 

[CESpeed]

Thank you for your reply.

I was thinking a rooster and 3 - 4 hens. I know weather (rain) proofing the deck will be a challenge, but it can be done. It's my back deck and I don't use it often. If I put the chickens under there, I can just use front door and go around.

 

[Hokum Coco]

What do you all think? (please ignore stuff)

You could possibly construct a coop to house your birds under there. Keeping in mind your access to eggs and easy cleaning (large openings to make cleaning a snap). Maybe even a drawer like floor to pull out. I would not use it as a run because of orders under your deck. If you employed extra thought and work into your construction I think it might be feasible. The amount of birds you tending to house under there would also be a ruling factor.

Unless space is at a premium it honestly would not be "MY" first choice as a coop (i like my coop to be movable). I would be more apt to build a movable coop that I could house under there if need be.

 

[res]

I would build your coop to the left of the porch, attached to the porch, and use under the porch as a covered run. A rooster and 3-4 hens will not need a ton of space. Just remember, though, if you build it small to accommodate a small # of birds, then you won't be able to let "chicken math" take over. You will be limited to a small # of birds....

I think if you build the coop under the porch, you are going to have issues with rain water seeping into it. It won't be fun... A little rain seeping into the run isn't as big of a deal.

Using the porch in some way will save you a ton of construction effort and time, so I think you should incorporate it somehow.

 

[CESpeed]

I was thinking that the deck would serve as the roof and I would enclose the space underneath. And building a roost from the middle post to one of the side posts.

I love the idea of a shelf for easy cleaning. I just have to figure out how to keep the rain from under there.

I'm not trying to have a large chicken farm just enough to provide eggs and a few meals.

 

[Farmer Ken]

10x12 with almost 4 feet high should do well.

With only 4 or 5 chickens your coop only needs to be 4x4 and2 feet high. And make sure you have atleast one nest box you can open from the outside too get your eggs.

Set it up off the ground and weather proof the top.

 

[RonP]

Anything is possible. The deck size is more than adequate for your size flock.

I personally would want my coop and run away from my house.

There may be fly and odor issues at the most inconvenient times.

 

[CESpeed]

At first I thought of building a strcuture away from the house but I really like where they would be in relationship to my garden (7 ft away) and to me. I'm ultra paranoid about critters getting to my chickens so with them that close I can get there faster. The chickens job would not only be laying eggs but bug eaters as well.

 

[RonP]

Consider all aspects, many given here.

If your pro's outweigh your con's, just do it!