# Indoor Bantam Housing - Critiques?



## WeeLittleChicken

I was going to build the Seramas a series of little coops to attach to the tractors they're living in now but there's a few issues... For one predators suddenly discovered my yard and have been digging into the tractors at night (as I've been taking all the Seramas into the shed one by one for the night latey.) And it's difficult to heat a series of coops... which I want to do because I'm just not sure their tiny bodies can handle it if the weather dips to 25 degrees below zero as it sometimes does here.

So I am looking into making the shed, which is insulated, has a light, and is easily heated, into winter quarters. I like the idea of separating them into little breeding trios. So I was looking up caging that'd work for this... looked at pigeon cages, finch cages, quail cages, chick cages, and bantam cages.... but I think I like this. It's for bunnies. I LOVE the nesting boxes! Plus it seems like it'd be a fairly easy build, clean, and is on the cheaper side. Any thoughts? Anyone try anything like this? Was there any problems?


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## kaufranc

I like it! How awesome yet so simple! I want one too, for my quail and Silkies!


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## Bee

They look too small for birds, even bantams. Whereas rabbits live in solitary cages and hutches, birds need a social life. Those hutches look barely big enough for a single bird to walk around in, let alone three of them.

I'm sorry to sound so negative but those look like cute little jail cells to me. Nowhere to dust, nowhere to roost, nowhere to actually BE except to walk back and forth in the same space over and over. 

I think you will have some stressed birds with possible feather picking and fighting going on.


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## WeeLittleChicken

Well, I looked up what other people were using for Seramas and most were using those little indoor bunny cages the ones that are only 18 inches long. I think that's too small, but I do like the piss guard that keeps all the shavings or straw in. I have mine in similar caging at night right now, just during the dark hours to sleep, and even so I still feel like it's too small. They go outside into the tractors during the day. I've never had any issues with them plucking. They seem WAY more docile with each other than my LFs. WAY. Not sure if that's a bantam thing or a Serama thing. 

This photo is an idea. I have not decided on dimensions just yet, I will likely make them a little taller so I can add perches. They will likely be in these for just nighttime usage except for the two or three really cold months. Otherwise I am happy to keep trucking them out to the tractors every morning like I have been doing (they're so used to the routine they line up to be put into the carriers and dragged in anyway - I like this routine as I have learned everyone's weight and I can immediately spot when something's amiss with any of them now! Happy with that.) 

Anyway, I will keep looking around for a bit but so far this looks pretty decent to me.


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## apdeb

What if you got that wire shelving at home depot 

Then put wire on both sides of it and some kind of rubber liner on each shelf

You could put small roosts between the wire on each shelf 

I have my barnies in my basement in portable dog fence lined with a tarp zip tied to bottom with roost water feed zip tied to side galvanized 20 chicken feeder 

My buff brahma is in her own rabbit cage with rubber bottom
All of them have pine shavings mixed with sweet pdz
Hope to have nice large coop for them soon


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## Bee

Here's a thread that may help you with making housing decisions for harsh winter temps...it's a good read and can help you understand what chickens are designed for:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/421122/think-its-too-cold-for-your-chickens-think-again

You could save yourself a lot of work, worry and expense by just building a proper coop outdoors that cannot be invaded by predators and would solve a lot of your problems.


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## WeeLittleChicken

Oh don't get me wrong. I will eventually have the greatest coop I'm capable of building.... but I'm not going to be building it this year for the simple fact it'd be almost entirely pointless. If things go as planned we'll have enough money saved up to move out of here next year - to a property that doesn't have neighbors on every side and possibly poisoned tap water. I'm super excited for this, have plans of building two really elaborate coops on the new property (one for the Seramas and one for the big girls) and really having the set up of my dreams... but I am not going to put the effort of doing that here if I'm only going to use it for a couple months before abandoning it. Seems like I could be using that money for the new place, you know? 

Last year I brought the Seramas inside. I only had five then... my old pair and a younger trio. I kept the old pair in the cage they liked best, an old parrot cage they could perch in that was very similar to where they came from, and the trio ended up living in a triple layer ferret/rabbit cage that they only used the top floor of. In the spring I built two tractors, 4' X 4' cubes. They use one corner, less f I put them on tall grass. The larger group of 8 I have in a 4X8X4. They're younger, more active, and utilize the tractor more but even so they still line up every night when it gets dark to go back into the shed cage to sleep. Never had any pluckers or fights or problems and there used to be four roosters living in there together! Maybe being the size of a soda can helps, or maybe they're just super docile, I don't know. 

Either way building this little hutch for the winter and or nighttime use would increase their nighttime living space at the moment. I will make it high enough to add perches because they seem to really enjoy that and I will increase the dimensions as much as can to still fit in there.


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