Our Indoor Chicken Living Quarters

             As usual, I just don't know when to shut up, so I decided to make this a separate post from the chicken update from the other day. Today I want to go a little into depth about our crazy living arrangements for our chicks while they're still indoors.
            I'm not sure how obvious it is from the pictures above, but our chickens are currently living in our extra shower. Do I feel a little ridiculous for keeping chickens in our shower? Yes. Do I feel silly sharing it with others. Definitely. However, like I mentioned at the beginning of my last post, while our "methods" of raising chickens may not be conventional, I am hoping that this shows people that they don't need to live in the country to raise chickens if it strikes their fancy!
             We started out having the chicks in a large plastic bin. (Think the kind you use for holiday decoration storage.) It didn't take the cheeky chicks long to be able to fly up and perch on the edge. So, since we didn't really have a taller container for them, we just taped over the drain hole in the shower, put some cardboard down, covered it with "fluff", and let them go! Oh. And we cut a a taller piece of cardboard from an old box and taped it up to cover the opening to the shower too, of course. I'd rather not have chickens running ALL over my bathroom!
            As for the heat lamp, my husband used some complicated looking way to rig it up and we have been raising it once or twice, at least, each week as they get older and don't need it as much.Sorry I don't have a picture of it. Honestly, though, I probably couldn't explain it even if I did. lol
            While this has worked out so far for us, I have to say that I can see why a lot of people just raise their chicks in the coop to begin with. If you're able to do this, I definitely recommend it. Being the "chicken virgins" that we are, I hadn't realized 1) How high chickens can fly, even at a young age and 2) How soon they are able to fly up and perch on things. Don't let this get you down, though. If you're thinking about raising backyard chickens, get creative with their living quarters if you need to. Chickens are resilient little things for the most part and a bit like cats in the self reliance department. As long as they are safe, healthy, and their needs are being met, there is no right or wrong way to raise chickens as far as I can see!
            Be sure to stay tuned for our finished product of the outdoor coop! If you think our chickens' indoor living quarters are wacky, wait until you see how we made the outside one!