chicken planning 101...can you help me?

[newfmadible]

I am new here and spent most of the day looking around this site. WOW!

No chickens yet, but will get chicks in the spring, probably from Meyer Hatchery as I am close enough to go there for pick up rather than ship. I already have an 8x8 coop with 5 nest boxes, & two staggered roosting poles both 8' long. My plan is to get about 15 chicks, just pullets for laying. Too many, too few or about right? They will "free range" in the yard (2 acres) part of the time and once the muddy season is over I will move the coop inside our sheep/llama pasture and rotate them around to the various paddocks sort of following the sheep in their rotational grazing of about 8-10 acres. Does any one else do this type of thing? What works for you? I was thinking of using some electric poultry netting fence for around their coop both in the yard and in the pasture. Needed or not?

 

[Just-Like-Hatching]

You will be fine with 15 layers in there. Welcome to BYC..

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Sounds like you have a great plan.

We just let our chickens out of the coop into the pasture area after we have moved it in a new place and set it there for about a week. They know their home and ours seldom wander too far. We do keep it away from the neighbors fence so they won't go where the dogs are or get on a porch and poop.
The chickens go up at dusk and I just shut the door and lock them in every night so predators won't take off with them. I let them out each morning and refresh their food and water.
Unfortunately, the horse likes to try and get in their coop so he has to be rotated in different pastures from the chickens. Crazy, huh?