# Okay to house rabbits in repurposed chicken coop?



## brentr (Apr 19, 2011)

I'm getting my rabbits soon.  My plan is to convert an unused chicken coop into rabbit housing.  I'm going to partition individual pens inside of it for my breeders, and have a common area for weaned litters to live together until slaughter size.  I've cleaned it as best I can (scraping & sweeping, brushing walls) but there is still some chicken residue (if you catch my drift) here and there.  Any reason to worry about health issues for my rabbits living in former chicken housing?  It's well ventilated and all the wood is dry.

I'd be grateful for advice or tips from anyone who has done something similar.


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## rickerra (Apr 20, 2011)

I'm not certain about old chicken "residue" and it's affects on rabbits.  But I'm not too worried about it.  

I have an old, large chicken pen that I'm going to use as a grow-out pen for rabbits after they're weaned-off.  I too cleaned it really well... using a soap/bleach solution and let it sun dry.

If you haven't used any bleach solution in your cleaning/scrubbing... that would be my recommendation.  That and letting it air/dry out well before use.

Let us know how it works!
Cheers!


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## Jamie Dog Trainer (Apr 20, 2011)

Be sure you aren't mixing bleach with detergents such as dishsoap.  This causes toxic fumes and residue.  If you do go this route please make sure you rinse exceptionally well.


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## rickerra (Apr 20, 2011)

Jamie Dog Trainer said:
			
		

> Be sure you aren't mixing bleach with detergents such as dishsoap.  This causes toxic fumes and residue.  If you do go this route please make sure you rinse exceptionally well.


I have to admit, your comment made me think.  I know bleach and ammonia is bad... but hadn't heard about it with detergents being bad.  You add bleach to detergent in washing machines all the time.

So I googled...


> The danger in mixing bleach with other household products is chlorine gas. It is liberated when you mix bleach with acids and bases. Most detergents aren't basic or acidic enough to cause a problem, but it is best to avoid experimenting. Do not mix bleach with ammonia or toilet bowl cleaners/rust removers. This makes lots of chlorine quickly. It burns the tissue of the lungs and the esophagus.


Good to know.  Thanks for pointing that out.
And yes... always rinse well.

Cheers!


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## Jamie Dog Trainer (Apr 21, 2011)

No problem, Rick.  I once was mopping my floor with some hot water with a few drops of Dawn dishsoap.  I had the brilliant idea of adding some bleach to it, just to boost the cleaning power.  Boy I regretted that, the fumes were horrible, I was coughing, and my eyes were burning.  Later when I was in school and we were doing some first aid and injury prevetion they explained to me what was going on


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## rabbitgeek (Apr 22, 2011)

Scraping or wire brushing the chicken stains is good.

Use diluted bleach to cleanse the wood. We used it to treat wood nestboxes.
Then put in the sun to sterilize.

Have a good day!


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