2 medium vs 1 large

[RazeNCain]

For 25 chickens what would you prefer two medium size coops connected to one very large run or just one large coop. I know for cleaning purposes one would probably make life easier, but to keep chickens happy.

We currently have a mixture of RIR, Bantoms, Easter Eggers and Plymouth Rocks.

 

[Judy]

Personally, I'd probably go for one large coop. just because it's more economical to build. But lots of folks use more than one, and it does let you separate birds, for any number of reasons. What I do wish I'd done is build the yard so it was easy to split it into two, to alternate them, and replant in the unused one -- or even to garden in the alternate one.

 

[RazeNCain]

That's what I want to do but the fiancee is saying to make two of them. We have an unused dog kennel that I told her I can make a small coop for, introducing new chicks and keeping injured birds but that would mean 3 coops! I can easily modify our current one to hold the extra chickens. Want to expand our shed as well as the coop and she just wants more coops lol.

 

[Trefoil]

I'm with flockwatcher on the runs. And I agree on the coops. If the one large coop has room to separate if need be. Depending on where you live, for most of the year the run area is more important than the coop area. The only time the coop is important is when it gets really cold. If you make your run secure enough that you don't have to lock your chickens up at night, they will get along a lot better. You are more likely to have aggression problems when they are confined. That said, if you plan on adding chickens or brooding, the extra coop will come in handy.

 

[RazeNCain]

We free range when we are home. Chickens are usually doing whatever they want 4 hours of the day. Our run is about 60' long right now 8' high. Had a ton of dog kennel fencing given to us. Have not lost a chicken in the year we have had them. Our dogs are pretty good protectors.

Next weekend she's at work I guess ill be ripping up the old coop and building it bigger and build a small coop in the other kennel before she comes home. Right now in the smaller kennel we have two dog houses that all the chickens seemed to love. No chickens in there yet this year just a few more weeks (3 weeks old), need to get everything done.

Trying to find some designs of a 8x16 coop now just to get an idea. And recommendations?

One last question! Sorry. How many nesting boxes would you recommend for 25 chickens? Would 12 be sufficient?

Crap that's two questions.

 

[JackE]

Here's an 8X16' coop. As far as nest boxes go, 12 is overkill, 6 would be plenty.