First time chicken virgin - finished a coop - can y'all help me for a

[tomasko]

minute?

Me and my son just finished our coop...super fun to build, barely made it out of the garage. Future hint to self...measure the hight of anything I build in the garage.

Here is a picture of our setup...am I going to have trouble not having a covered run or is a 4-foot fence adequate?

Food? Inside coop? Underneath? or Outside?

I was planning on letting the girls out into the pen area every morning, do they natural head "home" at night? I know we will have to latch up the door.


Picking up three rhode island reds in a few days...do you think having a rabbit in an out door hutch sharing space with them would be a problem?

Many questions....but it never hurts to ask

 

[Dogfish]

Need a taller fence, a gate, and possibly some netting over the arrangement. Nicely built coop. The rock behind may allow a coyote to jump from there to the roof, and then into the pen. The tree, if left outside of your permanent pen, could allow raccoons to drop in.

Great start on the coop, you just need to work on the perimeter a bit. Think like a predator.

 

[Quailbuddy]

Coop looks great !

I like the paint color

...am I going to have trouble not having a covered run or is a 4-foot fence adequate? I would put some netting or cover over the top to protect from preadators


I was planning on letting the girls out into the pen area every morning, do they natural head "home" at night? I know we will have to latch up the door. Keep them in that are for at least a week or two so they know where home is . . . depending on how old they are I might put some type of roof on so they dont get confused where they are and try to " find home" and try to fly . . .


Picking up three rhode island reds in a few days...do you think having a rabbit in an out door hutch sharing space with them would be a problem? it should be fine, many people do it but it depends on how they associate with eachother . . . exapmple pecking/ chasing​

 

[mboreham1]

cant answer the rabbit one from experience, however i have seen pics around here with chickens and rabbits in together.

Nice job on the coop btw. Your 4 foot fence will be fine if you clip the wings, i recently put in a 42 inch picket fence run for our chickens because it is vegetable growing season and the chickens will eat anything i plant! You wont have to clip the wings until they are closer to fully grown. I have 3 RIR's too, they used to go visit the neighbors over the 6 ft perimeter fence, i clipped the wings, now they dont even try to fly, they hop up to the roost and just waddle everywhere!

As long as they know where home is and feel safe there, they will return naturally, i just went outside to go lock the coop up for the night, they, as always were on the roost grooming themselves for the night. I have a waterer and feeder in the coop and a waterer outside. They will scratch and eat bugs etc outside. Location in the run is preference, inside the coop, just make sure it isnt under the roost, they poop a lot during the night!

Also, a rabbit might dig under as can predators, the fence is fine for keeping them in one area, not predator proof (although nothing is predator proof) Sink the fence 18 inches down into the ground if possible, the chickens might also use the rock as an escape route, they are not escape artists but very curious!

 

[joletabey]

In addition to the above, you might want to make your ramp wider and less steep-

 

[CityChook]

Quote:
Your coop is cute. But your run needs some work.

Run: What is going to keep your chickens in the run without a gate? What is going to keep a stray dog OUT? The rocks behind the coop are of concern. And it looks like there's no fence back there. Again, nothing to keep chickens in or baddies out.

Height: Some chickens are good fliers and will EASILY clear a 4 ft. fence, so you might need to brush up on your wing clipping.

Food: Can be either in or out. If it's out, maybe keep it under the coop so it stays dry. Remember tho - putting food outside will attract critters.

Night: Chickens will put themselves to bed at dusk but you'll want to be diligent about going out to close/lock their door.

Ramp: I'd recommend a solid ramp as it's pretty steep. A ladder is hard to walk on.

Rabbit: no experience there so will leave that to another poster.

 

[eggsited chickens]

I agree with everyone here about the run...needs a littl work.

About the food situation. I have tried both and found that outside works the best. If the food is inside all the time you have to have the water right there too, because they eat and drink together. If you have the water inside, my experience is that the shavings get soaked and the wood floor gets wet b/c they are messy. But, it probably depends to on how many chickens you have that causes the spillage.

 

[tomasko]

Thanks for all the replies...very helpful and informative. A true rarity in today's world of internet nonsense (and non-answers)...

I will border the fence with 2x8 - pressure treated boards to help anchor the bottom...and have continued the fence all the way around the enclosure.

I know I have a fox wandering around somewhere in the neighborhood, and there are definetly racoons...so I have to gear up the "fort" for hens to protect them better and they will definetly have to be put inside every evening, the toothy critters have too many ways to get into the run.

There is a gate...not installed when we took the picture.

Great site...learning tons

 

[sashurlow]

fox and raccoons... Fox can climb, dig and jump, need a roof and an apron. Raccoons can reach through large fencing, need hardware cloth on the enclosure.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Your coop is really cute! It looks well built, too. Are you getting adults or younger chickens?

Fox are good jumpers, as well as diggers. Raccoons are good climbers. Around here, I normally only see raccoons out at night, but I have seen fox out during the day many times. Also, hawks will fly right down into a pen, to get a chicken. They are fine with feeding on the ground. Looking at a cover and putting an apron of wire around the bottom edge of your pen would make it more secure.

Even with clipped wings, I've had adult chickens go over a 4 ft fence. They are very strong jumpers, as well as getting a bit of lift from flapping, even clipped. Most of the time, they stay in. It just depends on how motivated they are. Unclipped, some have been up in the rafters.

Did you plan for ventilation openings in the coop? Most of the time people do, it's just hard to see in photos sometimes. You need some in the winter and even more in the summer, when it's hot, especially when the coop is closed up at night. It's good to cover those openings with 1/2" hardware cloth, to keep out small weasels and to keep raccoons from reaching in and dismembering chickens. I know it's gruesome to think about, but it happens.

As for the rabbit, if you mean that your rabbit will be inside the pen, but staying in it's hutch, that should be no problem, other than the chickens might jump up on it. If you mean letting them run around together, then you would just need to supervise. Sometimes they get along great and sometimes they can kill each other.

It looks like you're making great progress!