2 coops?

Date sort Score sort
N

newtochixx

Chirping
Jul 21, 2024
38
45
56
Hello there!! My partner and I got our 10 chickens (one of which we will be giving away because he’s a cockerel) about 10 weeks ago. When we got our chickens, we knew about the 8sq ft per bird for building a run. So we built one ourselves & just attached our chicken coop to it. Alas, we had gotten a prefab chicken coop from tractor supply. The coop said suitable for 12 chickens. Instead of researching how much space in a coop a chicken needs, I chose to believe it because I have never owned chickens in my life & why would tractor supply lie to me?? Lol anyways it is definitely more suitable for 5 chickens. I really really don’t want to give away any of my chickens as I have become very attached & they have helped me in my postpartum depression. So here’s my question… can I just buy another coop and attach it to the same run? Or are my chickens so used to their one coop that they wouldn’t split up and some use the new one? I don’t have the funds to build an entirely new run. We bought our materials & probably spent almost $1000 for our 8x10 run. (There is also an 8x4 run that was already built onto the coop we bought, so we just attached a new run to the old one it if that makes sense). Anyways… I would like to just buy a new coop and attach it to our already existing run, but didn’t know if the chickens will know they can split up? Thanks for reading.
Also, they are almost 10 weeks old and still seem comfortable in their coop for right now. I assume as they get larger is when we will start to see issues. So if like to figure it out now.
 
The manufacturers of those coops use industry standards that are 1sq foot per bird, most keepers do not use industry standards. It will be cheaper to sell the coop and start fresh. Buying another one will not help and will be more expensive.
 
I agree with @nuthatched that selling your current coop and replacing it with a larger one is a better option than having 2 of the prefab coops. Getting something like a 8x6 foot shed is a much better option. Prefab coops tend to be extremely under ventilated and not very secure so they require lots of modifications and also don’t tend to last long due to the materials they use. By having a shed it makes it much longer lasting as well as making cleaning, modifying, etc much easier. Sheds also do tend to be cheaper which is another bonus. And just so you know, the minimums are 4 sq ft in the coop and 10 sq ft in the run. That is why I suggest a 8x6 as that helps to make up for the slightly smaller run size.
 

Logar said:
I agree with @nuthatched that selling your current coop and replacing it with a larger one is a better option than having 2 of the prefab coops. Getting something like a 8x6 foot shed is a much better option. Prefab coops tend to be extremely under ventilated and not very secure so they require lots of modifications and also don’t tend to last long due to the materials they use. By having a shed it makes it much longer lasting as well as making cleaning, modifying, etc much easier. Sheds also do tend to be cheaper which is another bonus. And just so you know, the minimums are 4 sq ft in the coop and 10 sq ft in the run. That is why I suggest a 8x6 as that helps to make up for the slightly smaller run size.
Click to expand...
How would I attach the shed to the run? Cut a door-sized hole in the wood/hardware cloth?
 
I'm so sorry that those crappy coop makers have another victim! But you can improve the situation with little money. Have you checked out the Coops section on BYC? Amazing what people have done with a little creativity. I started with a free dog house. You can modify your existing coop because there is value in "some" of it like the hardware cloths panels. It's the roofing material they use that is inadequate and any "wood" that is not internal. If I was going to get a 2nd pre fab coop I'd figure out how to attach to the first and not at the other end of the run as your guess is right, they will not split up. I'd also get proper roofing material and build a wood shed type of structure over it so that it doesn't get exposed to weather. Good Luck! I think you should keep your chickens and just put thought into how to expand/improve.
 
newtochixx said:
How would I attach the shed to the run? Cut a door-sized hole in the wood/hardware cloth?
Click to expand...
What I would do is cut a chicken door in one side of the shed so that you can get into the coop without going into the run. Then you can attach the hardware cloth to around the chicken door so it stays nice and secure still. You can then just use an auto door once they are used to the coop so it makes everything nice and easy. If you don’t want an auto door you can make a manual door that you can make for cheap that just uses a rope to open/close it.
 

Similar threads

N
    • Like
How’s this look???
Replies
2
Views
790
Andkingquail
N
    • Like
Mini coop
Replies
1
Views
342
Debbie292d
    • Like
Shiny new coop, ground cover suggestion?
2
Replies
10
Views
636
5Chances
    • Like
    • Love
Repurposed Shed Turned Chicken Coop
Replies
8
Views
1K
Mike121
New Run
Replies
1
Views
768
Krugerrand
K

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom