Hi, this is my first attempt at making a coop. I haven't gotten chickens yet and I'm not sure what kind(s) I will get, but I'm working under the assumption that they will not be bantam, as worse comes to worse there will be extra room.
I plan on trying my hand at housing one rabbit and 3 hens together, using the ideas and information from other people.
I've been looking at the coop construction on this site and I'm getting some good ideas, but I guess my question is if anyone can give me a list of things to think of as I create my own design? Such as, the nesting boxes (sorry if my terminology is wacky), should there be one for each? More? Less? It seems there are usually just places for perching as well, how many of those are necessary? I got the 4/10 sq. feet thing for coop/run down. How important are windows, how far up should they be? How tall should the coop be off the ground to allow for a proper shadow underneath.
Also, how small of a space can a chicken get through? I was thinking of the separation for the hutch/rabbit area being just through a tunnel that the chickens would be inable to fit through, same as the feeder for the birds being high enough where the rabbit cannot get it.
Ideas?
I plan on trying my hand at housing one rabbit and 3 hens together, using the ideas and information from other people.
I've been looking at the coop construction on this site and I'm getting some good ideas, but I guess my question is if anyone can give me a list of things to think of as I create my own design? Such as, the nesting boxes (sorry if my terminology is wacky), should there be one for each? More? Less? It seems there are usually just places for perching as well, how many of those are necessary? I got the 4/10 sq. feet thing for coop/run down. How important are windows, how far up should they be? How tall should the coop be off the ground to allow for a proper shadow underneath.
Also, how small of a space can a chicken get through? I was thinking of the separation for the hutch/rabbit area being just through a tunnel that the chickens would be inable to fit through, same as the feeder for the birds being high enough where the rabbit cannot get it.
Ideas?