Question about chicken coops and rabbit hutches

[CityChook]

I'm guessing that two banties aren't going to raise anyone's hackles unless you let them roam and they start pooping on someone's front steps. Keep them at home, be responsible, be clean and I'll bet you'll be fine.

 

[JFW]

You do not want to put rabbits on the ground... you are asking for problems.

 

[Mucky]

Quote:
Wait, come back, what sort of problems?

 

[Kittymomma]

It will work fine for rabbits with a few adjustments. If you end up going that route you'll want to put some hardware cloth or chicken wire on the bottom of it or the bunnies will destroy the lawn underneath--the chooks will too, but the bunnies will dig out if you leave it as is. You may want to consider tin for the roofing, stain will probably be fine for a year at the most before it starts to break down and your roof starts to seperate.

It's a cute little set up and should work fine for either chooks or rabbits with very minimal changes. If you do get rabbits keep in mind that most of the time same sex bunnies get cranky with each other around puberty and opposite sex bunnies, well we all know what they do. That hutch might be big enough to house a couple of small breed females without too many problems, but you'll need to watch out around the 6 month mark for territorial aggresion. Your best bet there is to get a male and female and have the male fixed.

 

[Mucky]

Thanks for the info, It never even crossed my mind that they might dig out. Had no idea that 2 female or 2 males might fight either. Im still hoping for chickens but Ive got a few people in town to convince first.

I was gonna start construction on my coop/hutch today but the kids kept me busy all day. Im hoping once my wife gets home I can get started. I want to post pictures, so I am gonna have to figure that out too.

 

[martinjj]

Looks good to me! one option for the roof would be corrugated plastic. Remember the old wavy tin roof, they now sell it in plastic and in different colors. Home Depot has it priced 24'' x 8' around $12.00. It would help keep the weight down. I also live in the city and have a homeowner assc. I just went to my neighbors and asked if they minded and offered a few free eggs in return. I would not worry to much just keep it clean! good luck!
Martin

 

[Annalisa]

Just wanted to ad a little about the legal stuff and neighborhood.

If you have chickens in the city, be a regular at the council meetings so ignorance doesn't take over. You can be there to reassure them that it's sanitary and not problematic for them. Invite them over to meet the chickens and fall in love with them if needed.

Ordinances prohibiting ANY small livestock are unnecessary and worthy of a challenge IMO, but that's another story. There are ways of dealing with laws like that while you continue to raise your birds in your back yard. Don't get rid of your birds the first time someone freaks out. Most people are just ignorant about raising chickens since it's so far removed from city life these days. Dogs and cats can be WAY more unsanitary than chickens, but we've accepted them into our everyday lives, so it's not an issue. For example, I haven't seen a chicken yet that ate cat poop.

You only need a tiny coop for two bantys. As long as you don't have a rooster, they should hardly be noticed!

 

[pacetruckguy]

People seem to be freaked out about chickens smelling. I have 8 hens and I clean there coop out once a week, and I haven't found their coop to be smelly at all. I even get in it to clean it out. I think people are just afraid of the unknown. If you are dilligent about keeping the coop cleaned out it will be fine. It would take a long time of neglect to have a couple of small hens to cause an offensive smell. They do cackle quite a bit when they see me comming with food, but as long as you don't have a rooster that shouldn't shake things up much. It's no where near as anoying as a barking dog. You can see my coop in my avatar, or go to my page for a better look. It's rather rustic. Good Luck, I hope you can win everyone over.

 

[Mucky]

I think that chickens have a bad rep. Everyone keeps asking me what Im gonna do with all the poop, isnt it gonna stink, isnt all that crowing gonna get annoying? I just want 2 hens, how much poop can there be? Im hoping to only clean it out once a week, but I have a feeling im gonna have to do it alittle more than that. As for the noise, almost everyone on the street has dogs.

 

[Mucky]

I posted earlier today that I had went down to city hall. They looked everything up and poultry is not allowed in town.

But tonite, one of the ladies that works at city hall stopped by my house. She said they were talking about it after I left and thought it was alittle silly that I couldnt have a pair of hens. She basically said, "Go ahead and get your chickens, but you didnt hear it from me."

So I didn't get an official ok from the city but I know that the city does not care. I've only got one neighbor I have to worry about now, hes a good guy but alittle strange.

Probably helps that I know one of the city clerks, the maintenance guys, the town cop, living in a small town has its advantages.