Need preditar-proof housing for three five month old chickens

[lost in feathers]

Chickens are five months old and were rescued by my daughter(-now away in college but would like to visit her birds) when their mother was accidentally killed. One of the roosters has a distended crop which has been medically attended to but is not healed. The hen loves him. The other rooster is a beautiful golden phoenix (?) and wants to fight the other rooster. They are mostly indoor chickens and make great pets but I am now unable (and not legal) to properly care for them. Any resources or suggestions? (We know that predators, wild and human, can be lethal and would hope to avoid that fate for them.)

Thank you in advance,
Suzanne
Lakewood, WA

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[emys]

Boy, I'd be looking for homes for them where they can be visited by your daughter, but that's just me. Maybe just keep one female that isn't attached to one of the roosters.

 

[lost in feathers]

Thanks for your support and understanding!

 

[NellaBean]

I'm sorry but I'm confused.........are you looking for design suggestions for actual housing? Or resources to find new homes for them?

 

[lost in feathers]

Hi,
I am looking for actual housing for them which will be in a safe environment. They are pets. (We may be coming to eastern TN in October...)
Thanks for responding!

 

[NellaBean]

If you are planning on keeping them indoors, I would invest in some sort of rabbit hutch system and give them "free time" to be out and about. Invest in chicken diapers to keep your house from getting gross.

If you are planning on keeping them outdoors, I would build 2 small mini coops or tractors....since you said the roosters don't get along. Use 1/2" hardware cloth on the run to keep chickens in and nasty creatures out. If there are only 2-3 per coop, then they don't have to be too terribly large.

Here is my "mini" coop. It has a 2x4 inside area with a 6x4 outside area. I used larger mesh as mine is within a fenced yard.

this is not one of my own creations, but I stole the pix as I wouldn't mind building it. It is used for bunnies here, but would work fine for two sets of chickens.

 

[LynneP]

Links below give some ideas that may apply-

 

[emys]

Sorry, didn't mean to offend you. HONESTLY!

You did state they aren't legal for you. Seemed like 5 chickens in the house with 2 being roosters who don't get along would overwhelm anyone. I don't think you can house them anywhere but inside your house if you have illegal roosters - you run the risk of having to re-home them immediately if turned in by someone. It seems like the best thing would be find them a home where your daughter could still visit or get updates.

 

[lost in feathers]

Thank all of you for your most helpful suggestions!