Chicken's aplenty!

[Giddyupcupcake]

I'm seeking your advice. I am new to raising chickens and have 19 chicks (egg layers, large breeds) and 6 guineas who are all 3 weeks old. They are active and healthy in their temporary home. I have a new chicken coop that measures 6'x 8' and, when I purchased it, was assured it would hold 25 chickens. I continue to read and learn and am now concerned that it is will be too small. Is it best to add on to this structure or simply add a second coop? I live on an acreage and am planning on using electric poultry fencing around the coop (160 feet of fence). I am also keeping my options open to add another 160 feet of electric poultry fencing. I appreciate your advice!

 

[aart]

A pic of the existing structure would help folks make suggestions.

Might you be culling some roosters eventually?

Not sure about the guineas, but I think they like to roost in the trees and may not be contained with electronetting.

 

[JanetS]

Sounds like it maybe a little small. Bigger is always better. We are adding to our coop now because we made it to small.

 

[Giddyupcupcake]

Hello aart, here is a picture of our chicken coop. I am going for the Dr. Suess look. It is now in the yard and I am painting it lavender, pink and lime green -- oodles of fun! I was wondering about the guineas and will not try to contain them beyond what we provide for the chickens. Should I try to add on to our coop to give our 19 chickens more indoor space?

 

[Jayers]

I am near fainting thinking of starting with this quantity of chickens! (But then, I only have 2 right now)
Renovating an add on sounds reasonable, but you may want to think to your future. My sis has a couple of buildings and has found it handy in case chickens need to be segregated for size or health issues.

 

[aart]

Cool I love Dr. Suess!! I'd double the size....not sure if you can do that tho, can you add onto the other side?

 

[teach1rusl]

IMO, size needs depends on several factors. I'm on my iPad, so can't tell where you're from... If you don't get ice or snow during winter time, and are up early to let them out each day (or are you leaving the pop door open?), then it MAY be okay. Is there approximately 25 foot of roost space available, and isn't so cramped that the birds would have a difficult time flying/hopping up to the roosts??? Breeds matter to, as some breeds are more aggressive/docile than others, and tolerate closer quarters than others...
To me it sounds cramped, because I adhere to the 4sq. ft. minimum, but I read many posts of folks getting by okay at two sq. ft. In the housing. Personally, adding another coop sounds easier than remodeling, based on how your coop is built (cute coop!).