Yakisugi Coop
Chirping
I'm at a crossroads and I thought I'd post to see what opinions are out there. Our current setup has a coop attached to a secure run that the chickens have access to 24/7. We also have a manual sliding chicken door that we open and close each day that allows them to go into a fenced area of our backyard. This has worked well for the past few years. We're adding new birds to the flock, however, and that will mean the secure run will no longer have the requisite 10 square feet of space per bird. That's fine when we're home because they have access to the much larger fenced area but I worry about bullying when we go away on vacation and they're locked up in a smaller space. Here are the options I'm considering:
1. Build a 3' x 4' extension to the run, which would give the chickens 10 square feet of secure run space each when we go away on vacation. An advantage to this idea is that the extension could serve as a quarantine area (there would be a sliding chicken door that goes into that space) and I'm also thinking about building it such that it could detach from the main coop and run and serve as a stand-alone secondary coop (e.g., when raising/quarantining pullets). Other benefits include: It would add more covered space during inclement weather, and it would add a perch to their secure run (currently their only perch option in the run is in the not-secured space, which doesn't seem like a huge problem because they don't seem to be "perching birds"--they rarely use it and prefer to hunker down on the mulch when resting).
2. Install an automatic door so that when we are away on vacation they can still use their fenced in area. This is appealing in some ways because then I wouldn't have to build a run extension. But I am a worrier and I fear that I wouldn't feel comfortable when we go away. I'd wonder, "Is the door closing properly at night? Did all the girls get in OK? What if one of them hopped the fence and couldn't figure out how to get back into the run?" (The hopping the fence possibility is remote, but still I think I'd worry). I would also lose out on all of the advantages that come with a run extension/secondary coop. We do have a small pre-fab coop that we use as a secondary coop, but it's a bit of an eyesore and not very high quality (so it might not last that much longer).
What do you think I should do? For those with automatic doors and non-secure run areas, do you worry when you go away on vacation? Does anyone out there have a run extension that can double as a secondary coop if need be? If so, do you have any photos of your setup you could share?
Thanks in advance for any advice/thoughts you may have!
1. Build a 3' x 4' extension to the run, which would give the chickens 10 square feet of secure run space each when we go away on vacation. An advantage to this idea is that the extension could serve as a quarantine area (there would be a sliding chicken door that goes into that space) and I'm also thinking about building it such that it could detach from the main coop and run and serve as a stand-alone secondary coop (e.g., when raising/quarantining pullets). Other benefits include: It would add more covered space during inclement weather, and it would add a perch to their secure run (currently their only perch option in the run is in the not-secured space, which doesn't seem like a huge problem because they don't seem to be "perching birds"--they rarely use it and prefer to hunker down on the mulch when resting).
2. Install an automatic door so that when we are away on vacation they can still use their fenced in area. This is appealing in some ways because then I wouldn't have to build a run extension. But I am a worrier and I fear that I wouldn't feel comfortable when we go away. I'd wonder, "Is the door closing properly at night? Did all the girls get in OK? What if one of them hopped the fence and couldn't figure out how to get back into the run?" (The hopping the fence possibility is remote, but still I think I'd worry). I would also lose out on all of the advantages that come with a run extension/secondary coop. We do have a small pre-fab coop that we use as a secondary coop, but it's a bit of an eyesore and not very high quality (so it might not last that much longer).
What do you think I should do? For those with automatic doors and non-secure run areas, do you worry when you go away on vacation? Does anyone out there have a run extension that can double as a secondary coop if need be? If so, do you have any photos of your setup you could share?
Thanks in advance for any advice/thoughts you may have!
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