Has anyone used their basement?

[Dar]

I have an unfinished basement.. its also a dirt like floor... (its either really old cement or really packed dirt) My house is 150 yrs old

I had a brooder as I called it built into my basement... it was about 5 feet long and went from ceiling to floor and about 3 feet from the wall to the front...

I had about 8" of shavings for the bedding...

I used this as an indoor coop when I first got my chickens cause it was cold till may... and then I used it as an ICU pen for a bit.... then I used it as an isolation pen... it was easy to clean and yes it was dusty... I had to hang a sheet over the door to stop the dust from going into the laundry room..

I had heat lamps hung when needed but I also had UVA/UVB bulbs hung and they were on timers to simulate daylight.. (I had the bulbs left over from my reptile breeding days)

I would NOT recommend this for someone who had an unsealed cement floor because the smell will get trapped into the cement... I would also not recommend this for anymore then 4 - 6 full grown birds... when my hens were young it was on till the 12 reached about 12 weeks old then the smell we to much to keep up with

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Quote:
OK! masks for cleaning never thought of that, because i'm so used to the smell while cleaning.

Right now I have to clean their coops every few days to try and keep the moisture down so they don't freeze,

so hopefully it won't be to different.​

Sounds like you need more ventilation in their coops. If you add more your chickens will handle the cold weather much better.

Oh they have ventilation, and they probably could handle the weather. I'm just paronoid about the moisture from their droppings because I read that can add moisture to their coops and cause them to get frost bite. We lost a silky one year from frost bite and it was ugly.

The basement idea is mainly because I'm thinking of the room to roam ratio because outside they are stuck in little coops, and in the basement they would have a huge area to roam. I hate that they are unhappy outside & just trying to keep my girls happy till the spring thaw when we get to go home.

 

[Chickenaddict]

I use my basement to house my seramas over winter...
It ain't purdy but it works well, the dog kennels seen in the pics once housed a pair of call ducks. They have pans that easily slide out for cleaning so the ducks were allowed a water bowl to swim in. All the pens connect with each other to give them more space to move around and a few different levels. It currently houses 12 seramas. The window in the basement room lets in alot of natural light but I have 2 40 watt bulbs, one in each pen for extra light. They get 14 hours of light a day. I clean it twice a week including wiping down walls and vacumming ceiling because it gets REAL dusty in there. Concrete floors are washed with a vinegar water solution once a week even tho they don't get out of their pens.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Quote:
WOW thank you so much! very informative and you answered all my questions! Our house is also as old, and has either cement or very packed dirt floor. BUT I do believe it has cement. So do you think the linoliuem idea would work for flooring to keep the smell from getting into the cement? Cleaning up after my birds is NOT in issue, I do it every morning & night right now when they are inside in kennels because of the smell. I'd do it everyday if needed that's not an issue.

To me thats just what needs to be done to care for my birds. I do only have the 4 birds right now, so that is good. It's very dusty and dirty down there now because someone has cut through the brick wall to reach the other side of the house to put in a heater & they never cleaned up their mess. So after everyones input i'm thinkin basement may be ok, but they can't have the whole thing just an area would be good. ??

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Quote:
THERE IT IS!!!! YES!!!

I currently have my birds in black kennels like the one in your pic, but mine is the extra large one, & it too has pans that I slide out. I currently have what I call bird towels in them and twice a day I pull them out, and do a load of towels everynight in hot water.

 

[Dar]

I would not let them roam free... so if you can section the off it would be great... the linoleum would be great but as many have suggested the dust is BAD!!!! i had a few birds I bought from an auction and they had lice.. I treated them with a powder and didnt have a mask I ended up with pneumonia (on the bright side I quit smoking because of it)

I would not suggest this for long term... just short term hotel accommodation for the birds