Is this a stupid idea?

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Currently we just have two chickens. I decided not to get any more because we are having to go away quite often these days so we have to keep asking friends to chicken-sit, which is getting a bit tiresome, and anyway it’s really just me who is interested. The girls aren’t bothered, they don’t ever offer to go and feed them or help clean out the house, for example. And now we are in chicken lockdown again – since 7th November they have had to be kept enclosed in a covered area because of avian influenza. So they just have their little house and an enclosed run, which is 3m long and 1 m or so wide but only about 1m high as well. On top of that we had been having quite wet weather until just a few days ago, so their run area was muddy and now it’s just frozen hard. So the poor things basically just spend their days huddled inside or standing about on the frozen ground. I do try to give them things to do but they are so quick, it’s finished in no time and then they are bored again. And of course they can’t really stretch their wings and certainly no dust-bathing. So I had the idea that perhaps I could move them into the greenhouse, now that all my tomato and pepper plants are gone. It’s barely any warmer in there (anything wet is still frozen) but at least the soil is dry so they could scratch about and dust-bathe. And of course they could flap their wings and hop up onto a higher perch. I have a spare house that will fit comfortably inside, then in the daytime they would have more room to move around. They would be dry if we got more wet weather. And of course it’s fox-proof. What could possibly go wrong?? I have piles of plant pots in there stacked up under the bench, but I’ve blocked that off as best I can with a glass door. There are a few other bits and bobs such as string, plant labels, and canes, but I’m hoping that if I put the small things in a box on the top shelf they will leave that alone. Of course they are bound to make a mess, but if it’s on the soil that will be a bonus for next year’s plants and the paving slabs up the middle shouldn’t be too hard to clean. What do you think? I’m just not sure if this is a stupid idea. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2022.