Is an indoor coop possible?

[Beed]

I have my two pullets inside. Actually on our enclosed porch which is under air and mostly windows. I have a tractor and a large rabbit cage for bringing them outside under supervision. I work at home mostly. I am home all of the time. I clean poop all of the time. I have shoes, mops, brooms, rags, spray bottles, etc. that are only used on chicken porch. It is a lot of work. I have a good back and am in pretty good shape which is good for bending and stooping all of the time. You can smell a little bit of chicken aroma when you walk in. I saved my chickens from going to the pound (girlfriends neighbors ratted her out-she had them illegally). I do bring mine out daily and am eventually going to build a coop outside. I would strongly suggest you do not keep your chickies in the house. Sounds like you have already decided that.

 

[wyndski]

quote"Chicken Dander has bacteria in it as it is dead skin cells off the chicken's body and feathers. "

That is true of ALL animal dander.. cat,dog, and indoor birds included. So that can be said if you have ANY animals in your house.
I have two chickens in my house. Though I do plan on building a coop outside. Mine do go outside, but I bring them in at night or when they can't be supervised. Right now we have had storms for a few weeks and they are stuck inside more now then normal. They are in front of a window so they natural light and can see out. I put scratch and millet sprigs down to keep them busy. I do not let them roam free in the house and I do change their bedding at Least every other day. I think it is fine if they can access to the outside some, but if they will not be able to ever go out then I wouldn't do it.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

Quote:

Well you should hun. Right after I had my first daughter, her grandparents attempted to get her taken away from me.

That is terrible. Why would they want to take your child from you in the first place though. Surely it was not because of your birds...

Some times I would let one of my japanese bantams come in the house through the front door as he pleased while I left the door open and did things around the house in the summer. They were there once when this happened and used it against me to try to get my daughter taken away from me.

Did they happen to see any little bantam messes on the floor? Or did they just think chickens were totally disgusting?? Why are the Grandparents trying to take your child from you?

Child Services came out to my house and asked me about it. They were very firm with telling me that livestock is not to be kept in the house.

Im pretty sure that is not against the law. I mean I understood if there were feces all over the house, but Im sure there were not! I just got off the phone with my friend who has worked for the government in the Division of Child Care and Social Services for 16 years. She says that there has to be multiple issues for the state to remove a child from the home. She says that they are not about taking children unless absolutely necessary and that they work towards family reunification. They would have to come in, tell you what needs to be fixed, and then make multiple visits and reports (and have none of their guidelines being followed) before even considering removing a child from their home.

If my chicken would have been in the house at the time they came then they would left with my daughter. And there would have been nothing I could of done about it other then go to court to try to get her back.

She says that no child has ever been removed because of a pet chicken, duck, parrot or other bird or other pet. If it has something to do with owning animals it has to do with cleanliness. (which Im sure you didnt have a problem with) She says that it would be absurd and ludicrous to think that they would walk out the door with your child for that reason alone.

I asked them why it was a problem for my chicken to come in the house. Cause naturaly as everyone else here thinks - hey its just one chicken whats the big deal, right? Well they so kindly informed me that it was insanitary in their books.

Maybe this was just your Case W6orker's opinion, but there is no law that says chickens are particularly unsanitary....

Chicken Dander has bacteria in it as it is dead skin cells off the chicken's body and feathers. What do you think touches those skin cells before they are shed? Dirt, poop, and anything else the chicken touches. When this is inhailed a lot it will cause an infection in the lungs which results in Phemonia (sp?) .

Pretty much all animals have dander, including cats, dogs and parrots.....Chickens are no more disgusting than other pets, especially ones that do not respond well to potty-training..(pet hamsters, gerbils, rats, lizards......some dogs and cats never do..etc)

Also the waste its self from chickens are dangerous as well and can contain parasites. So thats why they didnt find it sanitary to keep chickens in the house.

All animals can carry parasites, that is why you vaccinate and deworm and de-flea/de-louse....especially animals that you are sharing living quarters with.

I don't totaly agree with the decision they made for me to never allow chickens kept in the house. Im just speaking on the behalf of the knowledge I gained from that experiance. I would hate anyone to loose kids from something so small and stupid. I personaly think dogs are nastier then chickens are. And cats with how they jump up on the counters or your lap after pawing in a litterbox. But its not me who makes the rules obviously. I wished someone had told me before I had my scare with child services.

Im very, very glad that you didnt lose your daughter, but I dont want anyone else to fear having social services called on them for something as insignificant as a pet chicken in the house...​

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

I just wanted to add, that we are talking about how gross chickens are in the house and I have two indoor pet rats climbing on me and the keyboard.

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

lol I cant speak for every social services officer of every state. Some have different rules. Some are grumpier then others. And then there is those few that are just total pains in the behind and take out fustrations in their life on others, as they are just normal people like anyone else and do wrong things as well.

No my house wasnt that dirty, a few dirty clothes in the bed room floor. And the dishes from the morning breakfast in the sink soaking in some soapy water.

They were acctually quite impressed with how clean the coops were outside. I had almost 200 chickens at that time. With 15 coops built side by side and then one against my shed.

My ex's parents were the types that give a lot of christians bad names. They preach and preach but then judge others according to their standards. Me and my ex wasnt married and I wasnt of "high standards" as they were. Meaning I wasnt rich. They wanted him to marry this girl that lived next to them. Her parents owned the golf corse near them and cause he was with me not her, they would try everything they could to get rid of me. Even if it ment trying to get me put in jail or my out of wedlock child (they used a different word im not aloud to use on this thread) taken away from me. They always took everything they said about me to the extream to whoever they was speaking too. Im sure they told the social services some outlandish things about me that was not true.

But it was clear when the social services came to my place that I was not doing any of the things they claimed. I remember they listed a few things that I was accused of doing. Rotting meat left out on counters, dishes never washed, house in shambles, allowing chickens to live in the dwelling, they even accused me of neglecting my daughter. Who was on my lap when they came in. I had the door wide open of course, we lived in the country. I hardly ever had my door closed during warm weather months. The social services just peaked on in and pecked on the door frame then helped themselves in as soon as they saw me.

But despite me getting to keep my daughter cause of them finding nothing out of the ordinary, I was still terrified from then on.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

What terrible people!

This is what we have in our house, and I wish someone would take us away from it!! Just kidding, wish they would move on though. They are Fisher's Spiders and the size of the palm of your hand. I live in a 150 year old 7 bedroom house.

I'll send one to you and if SS ever tried to come agian, just plop on of these on your front door!!

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

XD I will remember that. Thankfully I havent had to worry about those people any more. My ex's father has passed and his mother remarried. Im with someone else now too. And we dont live any where near his parents.

Edit: We also have something simular to that but a little worse. Wolf Spiders. Also called Brown Recluse. Nasty things.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

Check this out!
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/spiders/spiderfile.htm

 

[SeramaMama]

I'm really sorry to hear that someone ever tried to take your child away, StrawberryHouseMouse. That must have been terrifying and infuriating. It does sound like the people who came by were giving you an especially hard time. What an awful thing to do to a mother!

As far as the posts, I do believe that it must be quite messy to have chickens inside. Obviously, in a pinch, it's okay, but longterm probably wouldn't benefit anyone. My husband did point out that our air system circulates throughout the entire house, so we would certainly be breathing in chicken dust and possibly other poultry-related stuff. Doesn't sound too healthy.

But, like a kid who wants a pony for Christmas, I keep thinking, "Okay, what if I had just ONE hen and ONE rooster? Or, even, just one rooster?" I keep bargaining down, hoping. Why I torture myself with this stuff, I don't know! Somehow the idea of hatching chicks, raising them, and keeping them as pets has really struck me and something fulfilling and wonderful, and I can tell by reading the BYC threads that, for the most part, people who are on this site feel that way.

I guess the laws in Colorado are changing rapidly, as many people are secretly keeping chickens or fighting to change the law and swaying officials, which is hopeful. If anyone on BYC is in the Denver/Boulder suburban areas, I would love to hear from you and hear about how the laws work in the area or how they're being changed!

Thanks again, everybody! What a fun community BYC is!

 

[ClairedeLune]

I live in Denver (or near it anyway), and we have 3 pullets. However, I'm not sure this counts, as we have 2+ acres.
Those spiders are really creepy!