Would this be too small for bantams?

[Kezz]

Hi all,

I'm oh so slowly working towards getting chickens for the bottom of the garden. With this in mind I got a rabbit hutch off freecycle in feb, yesterday I got around to measuring it (see what I mean about slow?).

Rough measurements:
Length 122cm
Height 80cm (+ 11cm gap underneath)
Depth 40cm

Here's a pic on my blog

If I cut a hole and attatched a nest box to the side (hinged lid, maybe one on each side) and blocked up most of the wire holes, and cut a pop hole, and put perches in....... would it be big enough for 3 bantams?

I was thinking of sitting it in an enclosure so they'd only need if for sleep/laying. I think it's the depth I'm worried about.....

[Thomzo]

Hi
For sleeping and laying, I think it'd be fine. My two bantams were in a rabbit hutch much smaller than that with a run attached at the back for daytime. Chickens don't tend to spend much time indoors, even if the weather's bad, they prefer to be outside. If you can give them some protection from the wind in their run then they'll probably only go inside at night.

I would reinstate the floor under the end with the solid door. That'd make a lovely nest box which would save you having to add one. Put a pole across the rest of the cage, where the floor should be, to make a perch and give them some protection from the rain at the front (maybe a bit of old polycarbonate if you can, that way you can still see in). Cut a pop hole in the back and it'd be perfect as you can easily get in to clean it out.

Some breeds, such as pekins, don't fly at all, and may be better in a small run than, say, a light sussex that can fly like a dove.

Zoe

[Kezz]

I would reinstate the floor under the end with the solid door. That'd make a lovely nest box which would save you having to add one.

I did think of doing that but then I thought I'd heard that the nest box shoud be lower than the perches?

Cut a pop hole in the back and it'd be perfect as you can easily get in to clean it out.

I'm going to leave the back solid and make all the alterations to the front, just cus I don't think I've got the right tools to cut at the back.... Might have to buy a hacksaw.....

[Thomzo]

I did think of doing that but then I thought I'd heard that the nest box shoud be lower than the perches?

It does stop them sleeping in the nest box. If there's space, you could lift the perch above the floor of the nest box by an inch or so.

Zoe

[Gem]

My bantys have a space smaller than that to sleep in (a converted rabbit hutch as well) even with the relatively small space my two have they still jam themselves into the same 1sqft of space so the rest is redundant anyway . They do most of their stretching and what not outside anyway. Silkies would love it as they are quite squat little things and def not big fliers.

Good luck with the conversion.

Gem

[Kezz]

Hi all, still haven't actually done this yet, but I had to empty the loft so it could be insulated and found my cot from when I was a baby. It's not really up to safety for nowadays so I'm wondering if the side bars will be usefull as perches if I cut it up? How wide/fat are perches supposed to be?

[Thomzo]

Hi
A 1" square bit of battening is fine for a perch so I guess a bar from a cot would be perfect. You'll find that the birds will all squash up together so you only need about a foot per bird. One thought, though, would the whole cot be any good to make a run for the back of the hen house? It wouldn't be very big but I imagine it could be made fairly fox proof.

Zoe

[Kezz]

Nah, the cot's pretty shoddy to be honest, some of the bars have warped and and rest looks like plywood/hardboard. I'm hopng to build a full enclosue and dig the wire down to stop foxes + slabs around the outside edge like the "skirt" part on the eglu runs. It's all a dream at the moment, but I'm enjoying the planning.