Opinions on adding another coop?

Dani & Mikey

Songster
6 Years
Mar 12, 2018
185
371
197
Hartwood, Virginia
We are being offered another chicken coop for a great price. How can we say no?
:idunno
My questions are about your opinions on combining two combination coops. We already have one of those combo coops that are like sheds with a built in secure run. The one we are being offered is basically a tiny version of our existing coop. The tiny one has a super tiny run. We were considering placing them side by side and building a secure run to attach them.
One line of thought is that eventually it would just be an extension of our existing coop and we could get more chickens!
The other line of thought is that it could be used as a transition/henspital/brooder. That seems reasonable but also like I’d be adding this coop to only be used a smaller percentage of time. Which seems like way less fun. Obviously the more responsible route? Or...
:confused:
I don’t know you guys. What would you do? I’ll post pictures of our current and the potential new tiny coop. We live in the country so chickens get to free range quite a bit everyday. Chicken math is hitting me hard and I really want to expand our flock. What would you guys do? Any advice or links to build connecting runs or tunnels? Can I just make a chicken neighborhood and have multiplied flocks who live in their own coops but free range together?
Here is our current coop..
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Here is the tiny coop. I was thinking about putting it beside the big one and making a connecting run...
Accepting all advice!
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I personally would use that for isolation or broody breaking or even a brooder. Not fun as housing more chickens, but very handy. It's very cute but doesn't really expand your space for chickens even if you attach it to the current set up since it's probably only big enough for 2 hens, if that.
 
You can definitely have birds that stay in different coops But have the same run and free range together. Kind a like my chicken Village. But unfortunately that coop doesn’t really make room for chicken addition. But is handy to have when you do add because they usually do you need to be separated for a bit.
 
What you can do is measure the square foot in the current coop you have an ask the person selling the other one for the measurements on that one see the square-foot age you will have overall for the amount of birds you have a normal size bird requires 4 ft.² of coop room and 10 ft.² of run. That could help you figure out how Many extra chickens that can live happily in that space and see if it’s worth it
 
So here's my experiance with double coops...

With 2 homes everyone will typically choose 1, oddly they would rather be over crowded in 1 then split. I use a similar tiny coop and run in my hen run (beside would work too). Is always there but almost always closed up, for 1 if its open some of my girls prefer to lay eggs in the smaller but everyone still sleeps in the bigger. I use this coop for multiple reasons. It is my medical (non quarantine) coop, it is my introduction coop after quarantine, or for new chicks ready to go outside, and at the moment it is a broody coop for a broody hen and her eggs/chick.

Now if you wanted to use it as extra space as you mentioned. With a run between it would add a great deal if outdoor space, if left open it would also provide extra dry areas for hens in the rain. I wouldn't expect anyone to live there but they might. And they will possible lay eggs in both. As others have said its to small to house anyone only term. I don't know if its the same size as mine but mine only truly houses 1 full grown hen, maybe 2 in a pinch, and is only the proper space digestion for 1 anyways. Now i do have a second which has 2 sebright bantams and could probably easily house 4 but 6 is likely the most i would even consider for these tiny bantams in that size coop...
 

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