Chicken flock management? 1 big coop vs 2 or 4 smaller ones

[Folly's place]

We have one large coop that was built in sections over many years. It has five possibly separate areas that can be used as one coop, or doors can be closed to divide it into different spaces. It works very well for chicks, breeding groups, or whatever needs to be split off.
Most of the time the birds aren't separated though.
Mary

 

[Shadrach]

Can I have multiple chicken coops on one property while free ranging them?

Absolutely! It is in my opion the best possible option when having multiple roosters kept free range.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/shadrach’s-multi-coops.74344/

I was planning on keeping 1 rooster for every 7-8 hens.

3 or 4 hens to each rooster is what I and other mutli coop chicken keepers have found worked best. If the rooster has many more then that then not only can't he do what a free range rooster should be doing, his hens (the junior ones usually) become targets for the cockerels wanting to establish their own tribes.
That word Tribe. It's a word I suggest you adopt if you go the multi coop route.
The tribe is still very similar to the jungle fowl in composition. A rooster and his favourite two or three hens and their offspring for a period of time.
This article may help to understand how the tribes work and what to expect from the roosters.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

The disclaimer.
Given the right circumstances and a bit of management and keeping a closed flock, it works for many keepers in the long term. The tribe bonds, unless it's by breed ime, take time to form. It becomes very noticable after the first rooster and hen hatch and raise chicks.
Will it work for you?
Maybe. I know keepers who have two or three unrelated roosters living with a dozen or so hens and at the time it was working for them so there is no one size fits all for the chickens or you.

If you have the space, an acre a tribe is common, then it's worth trying for many reasons but I'll point out a couple.

Make the coops simple, robust and portable even if it takes two or three people to move it. I can't emphasis enough the advantage of being able to move a coop to fresh ground. Apparently jungle fowl change prefered roost trees for similar reasons.

Have an empty coop all the time and leave it open.

You won't find all the eggs and you wont find all the nests.

What you will get is an unrivaled view of chickens living as close to the natural state as any form of keeping allows and that will, if you watch, astound you.

You're going to lose roosters and hens. It's almost inevitable and if you're not very good at fixing broken hearts free ranging isn't for you.

 

[triciayoung]

Absolutely! It is in my opion the best possible option when having multiple roosters kept free range.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/shadrach’s-multi-coops.74344/


3 or 4 hens to each rooster is what I and other mutli coop chicken keepers have found worked best. If the rooster has many more then that then not only can't he do what a free range rooster should be doing, his hens (the junior ones usually) become targets for the cockerels wanting to establish their own tribes.
That word Tribe. It's a word I suggest you adopt if you go the multi coop route.
The tribe is still very similar to the jungle fowl in composition. A rooster and his favourite two or three hens and their offspring for a period of time.
This article may help to understand how the tribes work and what to expect from the roosters.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

The disclaimer.
Given the right circumstances and a bit of management and keeping a closed flock, it works for many keepers in the long term. The tribe bonds, unless it's by breed ime, take time to form. It becomes very noticable after the first rooster and hen hatch and raise chicks.
Will it work for you?
Maybe. I know keepers who have two or three unrelated roosters living with a dozen or so hens and at the time it was working for them so there is no one size fits all for the chickens or you.

If you have the space, an acre a tribe is common, then it's worth trying for many reasons but I'll point out a couple.

Make the coops simple, robust and portable even if it takes two or three people to move it. I can't emphasis enough the advantage of being able to move a coop to fresh ground. Apparently jungle fowl change prefered roost trees for similar reasons.

Have an empty coop all the time and leave it open.

You won't find all the eggs and you wont find all the nests.

What you will get is an unrivaled view of chickens living as close to the natural state as any form of keeping allows and that will, if you watch, astound you.

You're going to lose roosters and hens. It's almost inevitable and if you're not very good at fixing broken hearts free ranging isn't for you.

Well-written

 

[Folly's place]

And we have limited space for another coop unless we take over DH's workshop. He's no longer using it, but still wouldn't go over well at all. And I'm trying to avoid adding more coop space, and don't have an incubator, so it keeps my 'chicken party' under better control...
Mary

 

[Little Tala Bug]

Absolutely! It is in my opion the best possible option when having multiple roosters kept free range.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/shadrach’s-multi-coops.74344/


3 or 4 hens to each rooster is what I and other mutli coop chicken keepers have found worked best. If the rooster has many more then that then not only can't he do what a free range rooster should be doing, his hens (the junior ones usually) become targets for the cockerels wanting to establish their own tribes.
That word Tribe. It's a word I suggest you adopt if you go the multi coop route.
The tribe is still very similar to the jungle fowl in composition. A rooster and his favourite two or three hens and their offspring for a period of time.
This article may help to understand how the tribes work and what to expect from the roosters.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

The disclaimer.
Given the right circumstances and a bit of management and keeping a closed flock, it works for many keepers in the long term. The tribe bonds, unless it's by breed ime, take time to form. It becomes very noticable after the first rooster and hen hatch and raise chicks.
Will it work for you?
Maybe. I know keepers who have two or three unrelated roosters living with a dozen or so hens and at the time it was working for them so there is no one size fits all for the chickens or you.

If you have the space, an acre a tribe is common, then it's worth trying for many reasons but I'll point out a couple.

Make the coops simple, robust and portable even if it takes two or three people to move it. I can't emphasis enough the advantage of being able to move a coop to fresh ground. Apparently jungle fowl change prefered roost trees for similar reasons.

Have an empty coop all the time and leave it open.

You won't find all the eggs and you wont find all the nests.

What you will get is an unrivaled view of chickens living as close to the natural state as any form of keeping allows and that will, if you watch, astound you.

You're going to lose roosters and hens. It's almost inevitable and if you're not very good at fixing broken hearts free ranging isn't for you.

Your chicken keeping philosophy sounds exactly like what I have been imagining for my land. When I try to discuss this way of living with the animals, people around me only focus on the dangers and cannot see the benefit and joy of allowing them freedom. Chicken deaths can break my heart, but happy chickens fix it even stronger.

I just read your article on understanding roosters so I am going to kit out all 3 of my coops and spread them out a bit so that my two cockerels can form their own tribes at will and they can all get used to their home choices.

 

[Shadrach]

Your chicken keeping philosophy sounds exactly like what I have been imagining for my land. When I try to discuss this way of living with the animals, people around me only focus on the dangers and cannot see the benefit and joy of allowing them freedom. Chicken deaths can break my heart, but happy chickens fix it even stronger.

I just read your article on understanding roosters so I am going to kit out all 3 of my coops and spread them out a bit so that my two cockerels can form their own tribes at will and they can all get used to their home choices.

 

[Terri Harmison]

Can I have multiple chicken coops on one property while free ranging them?
I was planning on building a large coop and run suitable for 30+ birds but then thought about doing something a little different and making 2-4 smaller coop/runs that can support 8-15 each. My chickens are mostly free range so when they are let out they would mix around the property. I was planning on keeping 1 rooster for every 7-8 hens. While not really saving any money smaller coops are going to be easier and quicker to build. I can also keep the smaller flocks for different groups of chickens.


Thanks in advance for any advice,


Robert

I currently have 3 coops. 1 chicken, 1 goose and 1 duck. They all free range together every day

 

[TXGal49]

Can I have multiple chicken coops on one property while free ranging them?
I was planning on building a large coop and run suitable for 30+ birds but then thought about doing something a little different and making 2-4 smaller coop/runs that can support 8-15 each. My chickens are mostly free range so when they are let out they would mix around the property. I was planning on keeping 1 rooster for every 7-8 hens. While not really saving any money smaller coops are going to be easier and quicker to build. I can also keep the smaller flocks for different groups of chickens.


Thanks in advance for any advice,


Robert

Over the past 3 years as I ordered day-old chicks, I bought a coop that would house each year's new pullets. This year I have a total of 17 big hens and 6 Silkies (2 roosters and 4 hens) with 3 coops each with 6 foot dog runs; 1-coop houses 7 older hens, 2nd coop houses 10 hens and the 3rd coop houses the Silkies. That being said, all the big chicks go to roost in the coop they were raised in.
I still like the the smaller coops as they are easy to clean and I can count my girls each evening as they are allowed to free range. Also, each spring I move the coops and runs around in the fenced area to keep the runs cleaner.
So, my opinion, it is easier to keep the smaller coops. My girls seem to be quite satisfied with their living arrangements as the other day I gathered 18 eggs in one day!
Hope this helps, Audie

 

[Vicker]

I am a low maintenance method gal, so cleaning multiple coops wouldn't take that much more effort. I have a chickshaw and a more stationary coop. The chickshaw is used more for separating babies until they can be integrated, but I have used it as my main coop. If I happen to leave it open when not in use, some of the hens will go in and lay eggs but typically go to the main coop to roost. I suspect if I grouped them by cohort (the group they grew up with) and closed them in separate coops at night, they would start returning to the coop where they slept the night before.

 

[dreamofwinter]

I currently have 3 coops. 1 chicken, 1 goose and 1 duck. They all free range together every day

Do they go to bed in their own coops without prompting from you? I currently have two coops - one with 7 hens/1 roo/9 ducks and one with 5 hens/1 roo, but will be adding a couple of coops this spring. The hope is to make the largest coop (a shed, actually) a ducks-only zone to simplify moisture management. I had figured I'd need to range the ducks separately since they mainly seem to want whatever the chickens have