My husband and I have taken the leap in deciding we want to join the ranks of backyard chicken owners. We're going to hatch out our first eggs together with our boys soon. I've actually hatched chickens, chukars, quail, guineas and a few other misc game birds, so I have the incubator and everything -- My husband's from the city and never really got a chance to experience anything like that, so he's pretty excited... Alright, on with my question...
Now that Meyer Hatchery has pushed back all egg orders another WEEK, I have time to really consider what type of coop I'd like. My husband wants to build a small moveable ark (which I don't think would work for winters here), but I just had a thought this afternoon. We have a large garage out in the backyard. I'm talking 30x30ft. We could easily build an inside coop and cage for the chickens, right? I mean, that's a bit excessive, but it's much better protection from predators in town and would actually save space in our small fenced in yard. My only problem is that my teenage brother rents the apartment above our garage and to be honest, the kid's noisy as h*ll. How bad would his guitar, music or other junk effect my poor chickens? I thought the garage was a great idea, since we have a nature hater next door - when she moved in, she ripped out all the old flower beds and cut down 3 trees (even one on OUR property line without asking) and she routinely puts rat poison out for chipmunks because they're in her basement. The woman's insane. Even though it's legal to keep up to 4 confined birds in town, I think she'd really give us a hard time about them. Does the garage (minus my brother) seem like a good option to anyone else? And if anyone's ever made an INDOOR coop for chickens, would you happen to have any photos? I'm drawing a blank and I'm in a dilemma here. :|
Thanks ever so much.
Now that Meyer Hatchery has pushed back all egg orders another WEEK, I have time to really consider what type of coop I'd like. My husband wants to build a small moveable ark (which I don't think would work for winters here), but I just had a thought this afternoon. We have a large garage out in the backyard. I'm talking 30x30ft. We could easily build an inside coop and cage for the chickens, right? I mean, that's a bit excessive, but it's much better protection from predators in town and would actually save space in our small fenced in yard. My only problem is that my teenage brother rents the apartment above our garage and to be honest, the kid's noisy as h*ll. How bad would his guitar, music or other junk effect my poor chickens? I thought the garage was a great idea, since we have a nature hater next door - when she moved in, she ripped out all the old flower beds and cut down 3 trees (even one on OUR property line without asking) and she routinely puts rat poison out for chipmunks because they're in her basement. The woman's insane. Even though it's legal to keep up to 4 confined birds in town, I think she'd really give us a hard time about them. Does the garage (minus my brother) seem like a good option to anyone else? And if anyone's ever made an INDOOR coop for chickens, would you happen to have any photos? I'm drawing a blank and I'm in a dilemma here. :|
Thanks ever so much.
