our coop and run will not be connected, what kind of issues should we expect?

we just got our flock of 4 (silkies and cochins) last month and we love chicken keeping! we have a yard on the smaller side and I'm trying to make the best use out of the land we have. in the main part of our backyard we have a urban coop company starter coop. our contractors will be converting 3'x40' of our side yard into a hardware cloth covered run with a gate. its not ideal but its our only option really.
4 days out of the week we will have to walk them from the coop a few feet to the run- again the set up of the yard requires the 2 to be separate. which may sound sucky but considering we have to walk the dog every day much farther than that just to do her biz its relatively not that big of deal. The other days are my days off and i can just hang with them in the back yard or put them in the run. we want them to have run time or supervised free range time every day.
at this point i really want to keep the floor of the run bare dirt so they can dust bathe, dig for bugs and will not have to deal with run flooring getting too hot for their feet (i.e. sand), we're in LA and its hot and dry.
i can hang feeders and nipple waterers for them, there will be roost bars and built in shade areas, a swing and, i can provide some nest boxes. i feel like I'm describing a giant coop!
so now i need to hear what possible issues may arise or things i might be overlooking. I'm very open to ideas and i really want these girls to have a spoiled and happy life. thanks peeps!

Photos would be very helpful. It's hard to visualize what the issue is with the space allowing the run and coop to be attached. But I'll toss this out for an idea...can you build a tunnel for them to get from one point to the other? It can be as simple as a chicken wire tunnel, similar to those used in dog agility contests.....just a tube made of chicken wire...and then put it in place when you want to move them from coop to run and back again? It's pretty hard sometimes to chase chickens from one place to another, and if you pick them up and start carrying them back and forth they will get so use to that that they won't move on their own, waiting for you.

Similar situation--coop and small run are within a chain link fence, with a larger run I wanted them to be able to access on the other side of the chain link. I was reluctant to whack a big hole in the chain link, but let me tell you, I happily did it today. Chickens were getting scared being caught and boxed up, required multiple food/ water stations, and the last straw, they actually seemed distressed to not be able to access the safety of their coop and small run when they wanted too. I'd second the "chunnel" idea--ours is essentially just a two foot plywood box (which I'm
hoping they will use happily) from one area to another.

For now this is really the only solution. A little tunnel would make acessability for us super difficult (The space between the coop and run narrows then widens). Honestly moving them isn't a huge issue and we are teaching them now to walk from the studio where their brooder is to the coop every morning and we'll do the same with the coop and run. If it becomes a huge dilemma we'll have the contractor figure out a tunnel solution for sure. I'm basically more concerned with the effects on the chickens to have the coop and run seperate.

Good to know! They're so friendly and I get them to walk from the studio where their brooder is to their coop every morning, so boxing them up is not necessary. I'm hoping built in shade boxes in the run will help keep them feeling safe but it's good to know that they consider the coop run their safety zone. Hopefully this set up will work, a Chunnel would be so cumbersome for us.

You'll find it very easy to train them to follow you for a bit of scratch grain or mealworms. I'm wondering, though, where you are planning for nest boxes to be given that they won't be able to get back to the coop. I have girls that lay at all times during the day and would be pretty distressed if they couldn't get back to the coop to do so.

TalkALittle said:

You'll find it very easy to train them to follow you for a bit of scratch grain or mealworms. I'm wondering, though, where you are planning for nest boxes to be given that they won't be able to get back to the coop. I have girls that lay at all times during the day and would be pretty distressed if they couldn't get back to the coop to do so.

Click to expand...

i was hoping it was ok to have nest boxes in the run...what do you think?

My girls spend a lot of time in the tractor during the day. And I have a 5 gallon bucket nesting box (that took them a while to get used to) that they use when they are our there and not able to access the coop. The rest of the time they free range and the coop is open and available to them.

bcAddy said:

My girls spend a lot of time in the tractor during the day. And I have a 5 gallon bucket nesting box (that took them a while to get used to) that they use when they are our there and not able to access the coop. The rest of the time they free range and the coop is open and available to them.

Click to expand...

wonderful! thank you so much! gives me hope!

I carried my chicks for weeks back and forth from the coop to a tractor until they were big enough to live in it 24/7. It made them very calm about being handled and other than a little time investment on my part it wasn't a big hassle. Had I tried to walk them there a cat or dog would have come out of nowhere and carnage would have ensued. My cats stalk the chickens in their tractors all day long.