How big of a coop/run for 70 birds?

[BarnyardChaos]

Are you keeping the old coop as well?

 

[bwaak]

Are you keeping the old coop as well?

I'm not planning to incorporate my old set up into the new one. It's in a different location than the new coop. I planned to keep the existing flock in this one until the fall, and raise the new chicks in the new coop (after the brooder) until they are 4-5 months old, then integrate the older girls in with the new ones.

We are on the fence about what to do with the old coop after the fall. It's attached to a 10x20 chain link run. The coop is in OK condition but not in a great spot (my husband wants his lawn back). I might move it near-ish to the new one and keep it as a sick/quarantine area.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I recommend keeping the old coop, and not just for extra coop space for your flock of 75 birds. Likely the original flock would prefer to keep their old coop, and the new birds can move into the new coop. That would solve your coop space problems. They can share the same run, or not. It would be handy to make integration easier.

I keep chickens for eggs to sell, and meat for my freezer. My flock averages 40-50 birds through the winter. But the population swells to over 100 in summer. I think you will find the same dynamics, even if you only plan to keep birds for eggs. Your older hens (over 3 years) will slow down or stop laying, and will need to be culled to make room for replacement pullets and to keep your feed bills under control. So to keep your flock producing year-round, and year after year, you will need to add new and cull the old every year.

Having two coops will make this much, much easier. You might choose to use the smaller coop for pullets and integration into the shared run, and move the original flock to the big coop. Or whatever works.... but one coop for a flock that's constantly in flux doesn't work very well.

I actually have three coops, but I *need* to combine run space with a separation fence. (Project for this year.) One itty-bitty coop is my nursery, for chicks 2-4 weeks old. A bigger coop is for ages 4-7 weeks. Then they move to an integration area inside the biggest coop for a week or two, shared with the main flock. I could do it with two coops, but with incubating chicks every 4 weeks, I find it easier to move the groups as they age up.

I also plan to add a "cockerel camp" with their own coop (#4) and run, separate from the flock and growing pullets. No need to integrate them, they're all for slaughter.

 

[bwaak]

I recommend keeping the old coop, and not just for extra coop space for your flock of 75 birds. Likely the original flock would prefer to keep their old coop, and the new birds can move into the new coop. That would solve your coop space problems. They can share the same run, or not. It would be handy to make integration easier.

I keep chickens for eggs to sell, and meat for my freezer. My flock averages 40-50 birds through the winter. But the population swells to over 100 in summer. I think you will find the same dynamics, even if you only plan to keep birds for eggs. Your older hens (over 3 years) will slow down or stop laying, and will need to be culled to make room for replacement pullets and to keep your feed bills under control. So to keep your flock producing year-round, and year after year, you will need to add new and cull the old every year.

Having two coops will make this much, much easier. You might choose to use the smaller coop for pullets and integration into the shared run, and move the original flock to the big coop. Or whatever works.... but one coop for a flock that's constantly in flux doesn't work very well.

I actually have three coops, but I *need* to combine run space with a separation fence. (Project for this year.) One itty-bitty coop is my nursery, for chicks 2-4 weeks old. A bigger coop is for ages 4-7 weeks. Then they move to an integration area inside the biggest coop for a week or two, shared with the main flock. I could do it with two coops, but with incubating chicks every 4 weeks, I find it easier to move the groups as they age up.

I also plan to add a "cockerel camp" with their own coop (#4) and run, separate from the flock and growing pullets. No need to integrate them, they're all for slaughter.

Thanks for the great advice, this is an interesting thought.

Our goal is to have a similar set up - I'd like to cull the birds as they go into their 3rd winter and replace them with pullets I raised the same year. Next winter will be the first cull we do. The goal is to maintain 50 laying hens.

I'm interested in how I can have two coops but share a run. Wouldn't the younger chickens migrate into the smaller coop or would the older hens not allow that? It would certainly be easier to maintain the younger and older flocks in the same run if they knew which coop to sleep in.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Thanks for the great advice, this is an interesting thought.

Our goal is to have a similar set up - I'd like to cull the birds as they go into their 3rd winter and replace them with pullets I raised the same year. Next winter will be the first cull we do. The goal is to maintain 50 laying hens.

I'm interested in how I can have two coops but share a run. Wouldn't the younger chickens migrate into the smaller coop or would the older hens not allow that? It would certainly be easier to maintain the younger and older flocks in the same run if they knew which coop to sleep in.

They will choose the coop they want, usually staying with the flockmates they're most familiar with. A few might choose to relocate one way or the other. You can train them to go to the coop you want by separating the run. You might install a lightweight fence that you can roll up or stretch out, or section off - whenever you want to open it all up or keep parts separated.

Some stubborn birds may huddle by the fence trying to get to the coop *they* want but can't get to, so you'd need to pick them up and put them in the coop *you* want them to go into. After a few days of this re-training, they'll go on their own. After a few weeks, to be sure their new pecking order is established and they're roosting well in their own coop, you can open up the run again if you want to.

I've also found that pullets tend to keep to themselves, whether in the run or in the coop, until maturity. Then when they are at POL (point-of-lay), they'll complete their own integration with the older girls. My pullets even tried sleeping in front of the nest boxes, apart from the flock - I tried keeping them off, to no avail. I finally gave up and let them. But when they started laying, everyone moved to the main roosts on their own.