I figure I'll weigh in on this discussion. I also wanted a better solution for my rabbits but didn't want to break the bank to do it. I know this is probably confusing but I hope the pictures will explain better. This is working out for me so well, I wanted to share it.
We bought a 10'X20' Quictent greenhouse kit from Amazon. These are not the strongest structures so we knew we would have to do some major remediation. We set the greenhouse frame on landscape timbers. Drilled holes in the timbers and then put bent rebar through the holes into the ground. Then we screwed the base of the greenhouse frame into the landscape timbers and also added a few more braces to the frame using EMT pipe. We put a double-layer of bulk sunscreen fabric all around the bottom section of the greenhouse. It's strong, doesn't let in much wind but does keep humidity from building up. We then stretched the greenhouse cover over the frame and secured it to the horizontal of the frame that the top of the screen cloth was secured to. The screen cloth was stretched to the bottom of the frame and secured with 1x2s. Over the top we secured a garden type shade cloth that protects the top of the greenhouse, keeps it from vibrating in the wind and adds shade in the summer. You can't even intentionally shake the structure it is so solid now. It's been through a year of high winds, torrential rain and the occasional branch falling on it and it's not showing any signs of deterioration.
Then we added 6 chickens so we built a 16X20 run on the front of the greenhouse. We used left over pickets from when we built our privacy fence but pallets could be used also. The fence is built with 4X4s as uprights. We ran 3/4" EMT across the tops of the 4x4s and draped the whole thing with bird netting.
The chickens have their nest boxes, food, water and roost inside the greenhouse. I have 5 breeder cages on one side and one 48" growout cage on the other and there is room for more.
The significant difference for me when I added chickens is that this operation now just runs itself. No more shoveling poop and absolutely no odor at all - really - none. I keep deep shavings in the greenhouse and add a little fresh occasionally. The chickens love to dig thru the shavings looking for bugs and worms so they just turn the rabbit poo and pee into compost. I added the chickens about five months ago and have not shoveled it out and don't think I will until Spring when I'll want to use the compost. All I do on a daily basis is top up the feed, check water and collect eggs.
