Stealth Coop Plans

[Teila]

Howdy TheCooper

As others have mentioned, I would also hate you to go to all this effort and then have your chickens taken away from you and I probably do not need to add anything further than others already have.

However, I remembered reading a post from someone in similar circumstances to yourself and went looking for it.

I searched ‘Stealth Coop’ and ‘Under the Deck’ coop and was amazed at the number of results. Sadly I was unable to find the one I was looking for but just wondered if you had searched BYC? Looks like there are lots of good tips and pros and cons.

 

[Tomahawk]

Sounds like our current political climate - don't like a law because it interferes with your plans?  Break it.

Civil disobedience is not a current phenomenon. It has played a HUGE role in the history of the US. What if some kids had never sat at a lunch counter or if a woman hadn't refused to give up her seat on the bus? There were laws in place to prevent these things from happening. Should they have just obeyed the law?

I believe Thomas Jefferson stated that "If a law is unjust, not only is a man right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.".

Jmo.

 

[TheCooper]

I've looked at rather a lot, actually. I'm just sort of thinking out how the basic needs of chickens relate to my actual setup.

More photos coming, so we can discuss the actual layout of the property better.

 

[TheCooper]

I am from PA originally and I am getting cold just thinking about winter back there. I think you need a coop for sure. I am not sure what you mean by locking two separate areas. Do you mean a coop and a run? If you want them safe, yes. If your run is very secure you can probably get away with letting your coop open, but come winter, you will have to make sure there isn't a cold draft blowing on your chickens. Ventilation should always be above them.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Obviously we'd be doing this gradually, but I'm just thinking about how many doors, how secure, and what the logistics would be of opening and closing them if we were able to get to a best case scenario eventually, where they could be allowed to free range when we aren't home. Because we're in PA and we have lengths of time when we don't have a lot of daylight, we're going to have to automate access to the outdoors at some point if that's feasible.

 

[TheCooper]

Ok. Picture time. This is the underdeck area -- after I started this discussion, my husband asked if we could strongly consider incorporating the space under the stairs, since we need to do work on them regardless. I also like that idea because it's the only location under the deck that allows access to dirt.

 

[rubbleanddebris]

I insulated my last coop for the winter with some foil bubble insulation. It did seem to muffle the sound a bit as well. Maybe that could help you. Definitely look for quieter breeds. Some chickens get quite loud. I like your plan, I think talking to your neighbors is key. As long as they address any problems they have with you first, you should be fine. I bet you could change that law... its ridiculous. Neighborhood dogs and children tend to be much louder than most chickens, free roaming cats cause much more of an issue for the city than well cared for hens.

 

[TheCooper]

I think my plan is coming together. I went out yesterday and walked around down below -- it turns out the view from the left side (facing) is totally obstructed by the retaining wall from the adjacent house and said retaining wall gives me a pretty nice opportunity to arrange an open-topped run for some additional space outside of the enclosed-by-wire run that I want to do around the coop. We've always wanted to do some house reno, so we're going to add trellis and and underdeck roof and go from there.

And the chicks arrived yesterday!

 

[Wise Woman]

How exciting. Better get building as those chicks will grow quickly!