Okay, so on the one hand, I'm convinced that yes, chickens are messy. From these posts I also -- no offense here -- believe that some people probably have more sensitive noses and different standards of what cleaning frequently means. My sense is that it is possible to set up a coop inside that, depending on the materials used to build it and how it's built, can stay on the fresh side, but only if it's cleaned frequently (meaning, once a day) and the space is aired out. Would the chickens be miserable if they're inside most of the time? I would guess that if they're ignored and alone most of the time, then definitely. But if their environment is nicely set up, they get outside a little daily, and they get human attention daily, I would think two small Seramas could potentially be just fine.
However, wanting to find the best solution in the short-term while the backyard chicken coop laws are slowly coming into being...I had another idea, maybe naive, but still, I'd like to run it by more experienced people. In areas of Denver and Boulder (and other parts of the country of course), there are the community gardens where each person gets a little plot of land to grow veggies and flowers on. Has anyone ever heard of a community farm where people can not only raise crops, but also raise animals such as chickens in a shared barn or large coop? I'm thinking that a lot of people who don't want to break the law and don't have the space, but are really interested in learning agricultural and livestock skills would be interested in something like this. Does anyone know if it exists? I would love to figure out a way to make something like this work in the Boulder/Denver area. It would be great for communities, for the education of adults and children, and a wonderful example of sustainable living.
Again -- thanks for the thoughtful responses. I like everyone's honesty and directness -- hearing the good, bad and ugly all at once is refreshing!
