My chickens keep comming inside my house, what to do???

[motherhencharm]

Hi everyone, Im new to keeping chickens, we live on a farm with a small flock of 6 young hens. My chickens have a huge coop and everything they need.....but what they really want is to come inside the house. When ever there is a door open they just come on inside. They have even managed to make their way threw a couple of windows in their attempt to discover where the people live. We chase them out, or pick them up and place them outside but it never discourages them from wandering in again the next time Im not looking. The problem with this is they poo all over my floor (carpet). I have 2 young toddlers and I need to keep the chicken poo away from them. However my attempts at laying down a "no chickens in the house" rule is not working.
Desperatly needing some advice on how to train my chickens to stay outside!

 

[motherhencharm]

also I should mention shutting the doors is not an option. Its already starting to get very hot and the only way we have to cool the house down is to open it up and let the breeze threw.

 

[TallChickMagnet]

Get a screen door... unless you live in a submarine that should work...

 

[Justahannah]

I'd install a screen door so you could keep the breeze in and the chicks out. You could also pick up some adjustable window screens at a hardware store to do the same with the windows.

 

[motherhencharm]

The problem with screen doors is that we are renters and are not allowed to make any alterations on the house. Plus we have 4 main doors that open up wide to be the main ventalation, 2 of them are french doors, 1 glass slider and 1 normal door. Even if we got permission from our landlord it would get very pricey.

 

[sdsmowen]

Velcro and screening material would be a less expensive solution and isnt a permenant alteration to the property.

 

[centrarchid]

We keep our front porch door open much of the year and have a free-ranging flock that roosts on front porch. Very occasionally a hen with chicks will briefly come into parlor but promptly turns around. In our case I think fans maybe the repellent. We have ceiling fans going but a properly placed box fan may provide same results. We also have dogs going in and out of house. Despite chickens and dogs interacting freely in yard and porch, the chickens may not like being in confined area around active and sometimes hyper dogs.

 

[Justahannah]

Maybe something like this? http://www.walmart.com/ip/As-Seen-on-TV-Magic-Mesh/20850476
Or if you're crafty, you could make something similar with mesh from the fabric store and maybe those springy curtain/shower rods?

 

[silky ma]

They want to interact with you, they see you as top in the pecking order, and head of the flock as it should be!! Start spending time with them...I spend time in the morning then I toss a treat out away from the house. This satisfies them. They also know that I will be outdoors collecting eggs a couple of times during the day and talkint to them.

 

[TallChickMagnet]

I was just thinking about one of those gate things that they use to keep babies in a room, or from fallng down the stairs. You might find one or two at a yard sale...