Hurt Rabbit? Also chicken coop planning pt 2

We start today's post with a bit of concern, one of our babies is either hurt or has some cerebral problem. His back legs seem to almost be lagging and not moving correctly most of the time. Sometimes he can hop just fine and make a rapid movement, sometimes he can't even sit properly and his back end twists to the side. He is eating and drinking fine, isn't concerned with being picked up and held beyond the normal. He actually just sat there and kept eating his hay as I had him upside down to check his feet. He doesn't seem to be in pain either. Our best guess is an injured back, but we are going to be keeping our eye on him. We don't have a video of him moving or photos since we were a bit busy this morning sadly. Right now our plan is to take care of him, and watch to make sure it isn't something catchy and that he isn't in pain.

Below the cut I'll discuss the next phase of chicken coop design, brainstorming an ideal structure that's at least somewhat reasonable.

Chicken coop design process Pt. 1

As we sit through winter and prepare for the arrival of spring, and the changes that will bring. The Lady of the House has her focus settled on the garden, and I am trying to have a design for the chicken coop nailed down as much as possible before mud season begins. Below is my first draft considerations for the requirements for the coop, with information that is informing this and my next steps of the design process.

Bears are a Problem!

Bears. This seems to be the time for them from what we can tell. Last year we didn't see a single bear on our property, but this year we have seen them many a time. I'm now starting to see potential correlation between bear visits and lack of weight gain for the day. 

(Picture from http://www.weforanimals.com/free-pictures/wild-animals/black-bears/1/black-bear-5.htm)

The Second Inspiration

Homesteading
Homesteading really wasn't what we first set out or thought to do. At first we were just thinking, chickens are good for eggs and controlling tick populations. We came to homestead not through deciding to do it but through first the chickens, then a second inspiration.

Ethical Meat
Ethical eating in general more to the point, but meat is a significant issue for us. As people concerned with animal welfare ethical treatment of animals is a concern. Both of us have experience with the meat industry through either classes or brief acquaintance in person. Given our knowledge of the meat industry in terms of animal ethics, meat nutrition, and sustainability over all, how to eat well has been a topic of conversation nearly as long as we have been going out. It obviously came up again as we discussed getting chickens. The obvious choice when having chickens for eggs is to have a rooster and also eat chicken. The lady of the house again had an idea (Seeing a pattern here?), what about rabbits?

Research Part 2: Chicken Breeds

Chicken Breeds
So, I've been a city kid for my entire conscious life until very recently, but I had some acquaintance with where my food comes from. At one of the summer camps I went to we raised and slaughtered our own chickens. Mind you, I was quite young at the time and don't remember a lot of the process. What I do remember doesn't match up to what I want to do with chickens, and only included one breed of chicken. I did know that there were egg laying chickens, meat chickens, and heritage breeds. I knew not a single thing about them and their merits  or even what they were called or how to research them. Fortunately, there are a LOT of books about this as well as significant online resources. I'm collecting information I gathered from http://www.backyardchickens.com/ and from "Barnyard in Your Backyard" edited by Gail Damerow, and "Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds" by Carol Ekarius.

The First Round of Research

Research
It's not something that you do once and then move away from, it's a process that as long as you have access to more information will continue to happen. In the case of us that means if we have access to a library, the internet, or other knowledgeable people. Given that there happen to be an abundance of knowledgeable people, functioning internet for now, and plenty of libraries, I suspect there will be a large number of posts on research.

The First Idea
Let's keep chickens. That would help with ticks and provide eggs.

That was the idea that came to the mind of the lady of the house. We looked at it, and decided this seemed like a good idea. After all, chickens have multiple uses and are supposedly fairly easy to care for. Eggs are good for you, and ticks are a pain in the ass. Beyond that we know people who keep chickens, both in suburbia and in the more rural areas that we've moved out to. Ok, it's definitely functional and probably a good idea, let's look into it.