adding a new flock

[saildog]

i have 19 chickens 2 roosters and 17 hens all raised from chicks.

i want to add a 2nd coop and flock of about 20 hens and 1-2 roosters started form chicks again.

is there a distance apart i should make the coops? i would like to get a rooster for the second flock, i have about 2 cleared acres and a lot of surrounding woods.
should the coops be far apart? does it matter? they free range all day.

 

[eenie114]

It doesn't seem to me that you would need to have them a certain distance apart. The only issue I see with this is with the free-ranging part.... It could be difficult to ensure that the chickens would all end up in the right coop at night.
Make that two issues, actually. Do you care about which hens are bred by which roosters? If they all free-range together during the day, any rooster can breed any hen. That may not matter to you, but it's something to be aware of.

 

[foulplay]

It doesn't seem to me that you would need to have them a certain distance apart. The only issue I see with this is with the free-ranging part.... It could be difficult to ensure that the chickens would all end up in the right coop at night.
Make that two issues, actually. Do you care about which hens are bred by which roosters? If they all free-range together during the day, any rooster can breed any hen. That may not matter to you, but it's something to be aware of.

I agree if you want them to be bred by a certain rooster and return to a certain coop I would have them on either side of your cleared area. But then still the chickens would probably make it to the other side of the clearing to the other coop. Why don't you build one coop for all of them?