Rhode island red chickens
« Chicken Police?
does anybody know how to build a chicken tractor or chicken coop? any good websites? »

Can chinchillas live in a chicken shed/run?

My friend is trying to find a home for 2 chinchillas. We have a disused wooden chicken shed in our garden with a large fox-proof chicken wire run attached to it (no chickens!). If we gave the chinchillas plenty of straw bedding, toys, things to climb etc., would this be a suitable home for them?

My concerns are: would the chinchillas be able to gnaw through the chicken wire or burrow their way out of the run? If so, are there any cheap ways to remedy this? Also, would the shed be suitable for them during the winter?

Any serious answers or advice very welcome! Thanks


One Response to “Can chinchillas live in a chicken shed/run?”

  1. tuneses on
    June 21st, 2010 10:02 pm

    No, it would not. Chins need to be in climate controlled environments, where they are not exposed to temperatures of over 70 degrees. You also need to be sure and keep the humidity down as well, as just a low temperature alone isn’t enough. Summer or winter, outside they would die. If it got below 50 degrees or above 70, they would be gone.

    Chins are also prey animals, and were raised in captivity to be kept inside. Leaving them outside, with no natural defenses should a prey animal come by, would be cruel and terrifying for them.

    Yes, they would definitely chew through the wood that the chicken coop is made of. I don’t know if they could chew through the actual wire, but the wire I’m thinking of that is used in coops is pretty darn flimsy, so the possibility is definitely there.

    So in answer to all of the above, no – chins should never be kept outside, ever.

    If you want to verify this, or do research into owning a chinchilla, please visit http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com.

Leave a Reply

Incoming search terms for the article:

This entry was posted on Çarşamba, Mart 30th, 2011 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Rhode island red chickens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.