Does anyone see a problem with

[Becky_H]

Building my chicken coops under our deck? It's clean and dry under there, the floor's dirt and it would save myself and my husband (both building challenged) some work and add some structural integrity. We'll also add a couple of really solid dog houses under there, for our winter temperatures, in addition to roosts and nestboxes. The only possible downside I can *see* is that it might smell pretty bad, but with good hygine how much of an issue is it?

And FYI, I'm looking at rebuilding 2 coops to house a total of 10 chickens (5 in each coop, one group standards, the other banties). I'm also going to have a fenced in area out in the yard proper, but. Thoughts?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

The things I'd be concerned with is (A) the smell, which is preventable if you are meticulous about cleaning the coop out. (B) The feed attracting mice in turn attracting snakes, do you really want them that close to the house? (C) The deck preventing adequate sunlight to the birds, unless you have a run attached.

 

[Imp]

Becky_H,
Smell shouldn't be much of a problem, as long as its dry and kept relatively clean.

Imp

 

[Becky_H]

Quote:
We have parrots, so unfortunately we already have mice attraction going on -- on the upside, we have cats and dogs wich make short work of mice. We are *definitely* going to be attaching runs. I can't imagine keeping chickens up in any kind of coop. Thank you!

 

[GardeNerd]

I worried about the smell with my coop being located in a tiny city back yard on my patio. To date, smell isn't a problem with mine. I clean under the roosts daily and rake the run once a week.

I had a party two weeks ago, and some the guests choose to sit right next to my coop (3 to 5 feet away) Even though there were lots of other options throughout the yard and house. I asked if the smell bothered them, and they said I was unnecessarily worried and they didn't notice any smells. Therefore, in my opinion, if you put it under a deck, it shouldn't be a big problem if you are regular about cleaning and plan the to use a droppings board under your roosts for easy quick clean up.