So, my sister lives in a small Florida suburb that allows backyard chickens, and she and her husband are considering keeping two or three. She's not sure about which breed, yet, but they want to keep them for eggs and fertilizer.
The house in question has an unusual structure, specifically because it has what we call an “atrium”, which is a sectioned off part of the house that’s technically outside. We can literally step into the atrium and be “outside” and see the sky while still being “inside” her house.
She's been thinking of putting a chicken coop in there because
1) her backyard floods when it rains and we figure chickens wouldn’t like that,
2) the backyard is less predator proof than the atrium,
and
3) while the backyard has lots of yummy things to eat, it’s mostly garden without much room for a fortified, predator proof coop and/or run.
The atrium has a few problems, too, though. Her husband laid pavers down in it after taking out some wood mulch someone had previously put there. (He took the wood chips out, because they didn’t want to attract termites.) They have a few potted plants in there (and wouldn’t mind adding a few more), but she's concerned if it will be too barren for the chickens if they stay there during the day and only get to go into the back yard when she and her husband are home around 5 or 6 in the evening. There’s room enough in the atrium (66 square feet or so) for a small coop, and what space the coop doesn't take up can serve as a run. The stone pavers are something her husband doesn't want to compromise on completely. She's convinced him that taking out a few lines on one end of the atrium wouldn't be much of a sacrifice, but they're also concerned about poop being harder to collect since they may have to scrape it off the pavers instead of it just falling among soil and fertilizing it. He's also worried about having to use more feed instead of having the chickens in a more green environment for much of the day. Also, the atrium only gets a few hours of sunlight per day so too much green may encourage funguses to grow (it's happened before).
So, to recap:
Backyard pros – Greener, more chance for chickens to free range in 300+ square feet
Backyard cons – Floods when it rains, fenced but accessible to predators
Atrium pros – Fortified by high concrete walls, perfect size to serve as a coop and run (66 square feet)
Atrium cons – Not much greenery, poop may end up on pavers (harder to collect?), only gets a few hours of direct sunlight per day
Thoughts?
The house in question has an unusual structure, specifically because it has what we call an “atrium”, which is a sectioned off part of the house that’s technically outside. We can literally step into the atrium and be “outside” and see the sky while still being “inside” her house.
She's been thinking of putting a chicken coop in there because
1) her backyard floods when it rains and we figure chickens wouldn’t like that,
2) the backyard is less predator proof than the atrium,
and
3) while the backyard has lots of yummy things to eat, it’s mostly garden without much room for a fortified, predator proof coop and/or run.
The atrium has a few problems, too, though. Her husband laid pavers down in it after taking out some wood mulch someone had previously put there. (He took the wood chips out, because they didn’t want to attract termites.) They have a few potted plants in there (and wouldn’t mind adding a few more), but she's concerned if it will be too barren for the chickens if they stay there during the day and only get to go into the back yard when she and her husband are home around 5 or 6 in the evening. There’s room enough in the atrium (66 square feet or so) for a small coop, and what space the coop doesn't take up can serve as a run. The stone pavers are something her husband doesn't want to compromise on completely. She's convinced him that taking out a few lines on one end of the atrium wouldn't be much of a sacrifice, but they're also concerned about poop being harder to collect since they may have to scrape it off the pavers instead of it just falling among soil and fertilizing it. He's also worried about having to use more feed instead of having the chickens in a more green environment for much of the day. Also, the atrium only gets a few hours of sunlight per day so too much green may encourage funguses to grow (it's happened before).
So, to recap:
Backyard pros – Greener, more chance for chickens to free range in 300+ square feet
Backyard cons – Floods when it rains, fenced but accessible to predators
Atrium pros – Fortified by high concrete walls, perfect size to serve as a coop and run (66 square feet)
Atrium cons – Not much greenery, poop may end up on pavers (harder to collect?), only gets a few hours of direct sunlight per day
Thoughts?
