Indoor/outdoor Silkies

[venado]

I'm getting 3 silkies and plan to keep them in the house evenings & nights, in a coop/run in the daytime in good weather. I live Oklahoma just southwest of the Arbuckles, it gets very hot & dry in summer, not to mention windy, and very cold & harsh in winter. These little ones will be pets, also would like to breed since they are kind of hard to find in my part of the country. I have a nice coop/run for good weather, but my question is this for indoors. I have an epoxy coated collapsible wire dog crate big enough for a Doberman standing up (large!). It has a removable tray for the floor. I'm thinking I'd like to outfit it for the silkies indoors, bedding, perch, nest box, feeder/waterer. Would this be suitable? I'm getting 2 hens and 1 roo. I'm a retired grandma and will be with my babies all the time. Any feedback will be appreciated!

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

From my experiences of keeping chickens inside when they have been injured and such, they smell quite a bit. You could keep them in a room that doesn't matter, or clean it out every day or something.

Hmm, I'm curious though, could you put sand (such as a construction sand, not play sand) in the crate? I've read about people using sand as bedding. I believe you can then easily clean it out how you would a litter box (put the scooper on a long pole to get the back of the crate

). That way you can clean up any messes as they happen if they start to stink up the room.

Here's a great article if you are interested in the sand idea: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/using-sand-in-your-chicken-coop
I've never done it myself, so I don't personally know how efficient it is, but I've always wanted to try it.

Here's another one you can check out: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/09/chicken-coop-bedding-sand-litter.html

Overall, I think this plan could work, the only thing I'd be worried about is the smell from droppings.

 

[venado]

Thanks so much! I'm definitely going to use the sand in my outdoor coop & run. For the indoor silkies, I'm kind of leaning toward chicken diapers. As you can probably tell, I'm pretty new to this!

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

Okay, I've always wanted to try out chicken diapers! You should let us know how it goes