Raising Chickens in an Apartment

[mistylady]

Our coop isn't finished yet so we have the chickens in the basement. They are in a bunch of rabbit cages and the babies are in a brooder (most babies go to their new home next weekend). The rabbit cages have removable trays to catch poo and food n' grit they fling out plus bits of the treats they toss out. When the chickens were littler I could put them in what we call the fluff bucket and clean the cages. The fluff bucket is a rubbermaid tote witha few inches of shavings, hidden snacks and grit that they can take dust baths in and play in. Now that they are bigger only one chicken fits in the bucket at a time. Everyone gets 40 or more minutes a day to fluff. So every 40 minutes or so I go into the basement and change chickens. Thats what I base the day around. Work on the coop for 40 minutes, go in and change chickens. Work on housework for 40 minutes ... stop and change chickens. Having chickens in the basment is labor intensive but I love my birds.

Even as much as I wash trays and clean cages (I hose the wires off every now and then) they still smell. The basment is dusty from the dust baths but they need to fluff so I plan to just clean the begibbers out of the basment once they chickens are out in the coop.

I know its not an apartment but since they are in small quarters I thought the info might help. Good luck on your report!

ETA my chickens are standard size Dominiques.

 

[simba49450]

i dont agree with the whole chickens in the house since they belong outside but the comments about cats on the other hand i can. cats cover what mess they make i should know i have several and my house does not stink at all chickens on the other hand dont cover up after they go and you would have a smell. the whole idea on diapers on chickens is the dumbest idea i have ever heard. and even if you get banties they are naturally high strung and they need room to move around to get away from each other. they maybe pets but they are nothing like a couple of lovebirds or parakeets. so i would say it is a bad idea, cause if you think of it would you like to be in a rabbit hutch with no grass and no room to get away from someone that close. especially if they get in a quarrel over something.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I totally agree with silkiechicken...get two bantams and they would prob be happy in a large rabbit hutch. I have my bantams in a coop out in the garage and let them out in the grass to free range. They are easy for me to catch to put back and they are very happy and healthy. It can be done

If you keep it clean there will be no smell. We smell nothing in our garage and it's been months now. I clean it out every week and put in new pine litter. I ask everyone who comes over if they smell anything and they say no. No one smells my cats either (thank goodness) I have two of them but have to change their litter every third day to keep the smell away. I agree they do smell worse than chickens! But I love them anyhow.

 

[LilBizzy]

Since you are looking for the HOW to make it work, I won't give all the bad points, like how most apartments don't even allow dogs, let alone chickens. Or how it is probable that there will be an odor. Or how they really need a place to forage and scratch and peck and all that comes natural to them.
How to make it work- I'll note first that if there is no outdoor space for them, then its a no go. I couldn't raise chickens inside a home. The rabbit hutch is not a good idea, in my opinion. The wire floor isn't good for them. So I'd say if it were me, I'd build a little raised coop for them on the patio. If it's an apartment, the patio is probably small, so I would dedicate the entire thing to the chickens. I'd make the coop raised so they could utilize the space under it. The coop wouldnt be any different than any other coop that farm dwelling people build, just on a smaller scale.
Under the coop, I'd have a sandbox or dirt box for them to dustbathe and play in. Sand might be easier to clean poop out of. But if it were dirt, you could throw mealworms in there for them to find.
On the rest of the patio, I'd probably put in some flower boxes, maybe at different heights. I'd put in some quick growing sprouts for the chickens to eat. Maybe have a flowerbox with grass in it.
I think you get the idea- to create a "backyard" for the chickens to give them as much as possible in the limited space.
It may seem really silly, but if I was going to raise chickens in an apartment, I'd probably have little harnesses made with leashes so I could take them for walks to a place where they can really dig and scratch. Like a dog park- for chickens.

 

[coffeelady3]

I think raising chickens in an apartment would be doable. I agree with the others who recommend bantams. You get the full chicken experience at half the size (eggs and all)! A rabbit hutch would be good, but you could also do something as simple as making a coop out of a large rubbermaid container or a small dog house. (It would be easy to bring it in at night, so it doesn't need to be completely predator proof) and an dogs exercise pen for them to run around. Make some sort of tray with a linoleum bottom that you can set the exercise pen into. It would be fairly easy to clean, just scoop it out with a dust pan, or remove the pen and just dump the whole thing.

As far as keeping them happy, LizBizzy is right. You need to get creative and figure out ways to satisfy their natural instincts. Maybe go to a nursery and get a square of sod, a shallow rubbermaid tray filled with dirt, find some bugs or meal worms to bury in the dirt, grow some edible plants, build some perches, move them around. Rotate the activities so that every day give them something new to do. This is what zoos do every day with their animals. It's called behavioral enrichment. Here's an article that I found on line on enriching chickens in a research or commercial environment.

http://www.awionline.org/pubs/cq02/Cq-chick.html

Good luck!

 

[Lee]

Here is what I did when raising a couple of bantams in my garage. I got a couple of fake grass Astroturf foot mats at Walmart and I sprinkled a good blend of bird seed on the mats and that gave them something to do and they did scratch at the mat. And I have a brooder cage, used to be a rabbgit cage and when the chicks hatch I keep the floor of the cage covered with 2 mats. They are very easy to hose off to clean. Just an idea that works for me.

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
Ditto. I don't think I'd personally want to do it either, but the OP wanted to know how to make it work. Hey, look at battery farms, they raise their VERY high strung leghrons 6-8 to a wire cage and they never go outside. There is always the counter arguement of how "pet birds" belong in the wild too. If you go for any "indoor breed" Get something known to be calm like a silkie. Not soemthing like a leghorn. Scare one of those and the whole house will be covered in shavings.

 

[sundance]

I managed apts. for years and if you were in my complex, you would receive a notice to MOVE BY THE 1ST. You probably need to read your rental agreement. I love my chickens, thats why i did not get any until we had land for them. Sorry to bust your bubble but I don't think your apt manage will allow it, marrie

 

[coltsrox]

i bougth a rabbit hutch but took out the wire bottom and left the silverr tray in it and my 2 are happy but no more then 2-3 or it won't be enough room!

p.s. i got it at tractor supply

 

[DomiHentrix]

Quote:
I have wondered if anyone thought of that. My first thought when I saw a poultry saddle is that they couldeasily be the platform for the design of some type of cloth diaper.

My Ameraucana chicks are in a Portable Dog Kennel, However I only have three and will only keep them in there until they are 4-5 weeks old and I can introduce them into the flock outside.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751227