Does anyone else have - Two Coops, One Run?

[RevlisRemmah]

So I started with my 16 backyard chickens last year and got hit with chicken math. WHY ARE CHICKS SO DARN CUTE?

A broody just hatched 5 babies this week and I have 18 chicks coming from McMurray next week. Even though I am giving 6 or so away to my mother-in-law, we will still need a new coop.

Does anyone else have two separate coops connecting to one run and have success with flocks intermingling? We have over two acres so we have a substantial run area already set up for the chickens, but the new group will have to be in a different coop. Currently we have one rooster and 15 hens, all standard. I ordered 17 pullets and 1 mystery chick from McMurray so I assume he will be a boy. Not sure about the coop babies yet, obviously.

Is it possible to have flocks roost separately but get along in the run during the day? Or should I start buying more fencing for a new run or plan to split the run we have?

 

[aart]

I most cases they will likely all try to roost in one coop if given access.
How many birds total will you have?

 

[BlueLovesBirds]

I have 2 coops and one run too! Well, kind of.

I have a big building that is separated by chicken wire into two separate rooms. I have 18 bantams in the smaller room and 38 standard layers in the bigger room. And then there are a bunch that are in cages within the rooms that are either too aggressive to be integrated with the others, or are still too young.

The bantams and standards love each other and will hang out together in the run, but when I tell them to go home, they all go to their coops and not together. The ones in the cages also go back to their cages on their own.

I think it's just a matter of whether the chickens are comfortable with their own "rooms" or not. I started off with just bantams, and then after about 3 months, I got my standards. So they know where they're supposed to go.

Also, with newcomers, I had to be really patient. I wave around a little flag and it signals them to go home (which is super cool) but whenever I get new ones, they don't understand and think I'm chasing them around. So they don't go home and even when they do, they go in the wrong room. I have to hand pick them out and make them go home. After around 3 months though, they'll learn.

I hope this helps

Edit: I have 15 bantam hens, 3 bantam roosters (living in the same room), 35 standard hens, 3 standard roosters (living in the same room), and 10 other roosters in cages plus some hens in cages. I'm not sure if you have roosters, but I was trying to tell you that even if both flocks have a leader rooster, they can still get along. Hope this made things a little bit clearer.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

I most cases they will likely all try to roost in one coop if given access.
How many birds total will you have?

I’m thinking we will end up with 30? I’ll probably keep the OG 16, 11 from the McMurray chicks and however many of the hatches that turn out to be pullets. I know the 16 are comfortable where they are but I wouldn’t want any more in that coop. I was thinking if I got the new batch used to a new coop maybe they would return there every night? Or would they follow the old flock.
Maybe I can get a larger second coop to hold 30 and keep the smaller coop for Something else. But that would have to be a huge coop.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

I have 2 coops and one run too! Well, kind of.

I have a big building that is separated by chicken wire into two separate rooms. I have 18 bantams in the smaller room and 38 standard layers in the bigger room. And then there are a bunch that are in cages within the rooms that are either too aggressive to be integrated with the others, or are still too young.

The bantams and standards love each other and will hang out together in the run, but when I tell them to go home, they all go to their coops and not together. The ones in the cages also go back to their cages on their own.

I think it's just a matter of whether the chickens are comfortable with their own "rooms" or not. I started off with just bantams, and then after about 3 months, I got my standards. So they know where they're supposed to go.

Also, with newcomers, I had to be really patient. I wave around a little flag and it signals them to go home (which is super cool) but whenever I get new ones, they don't understand and think I'm chasing them around. So they don't go home and even when they do, they go in the wrong room. I have to hand pick them out and make them go home. After around 3 months though, they'll learn.

I hope this helps

Edit: I have 15 bantam hens, 3 bantam roosters (living in the same room), 35 standard hens, 3 standard roosters (living in the same room), and 10 other roosters in cages plus some hens in cages. I'm not sure if you have roosters, but I was trying to tell you that even if both flocks have a leader rooster, they can still get along. Hope this made things a little bit clearer.

This helps a lot!! And kind of is exactly what I was envisioning in my perfect mini farm paradise! They graze together during the day and go to their separate homes at night. Maybe I can keep a Roo for the second flock, our Roo now hates me but is such a good boy to his girls.

 

[aart]

I’m thinking we will end up with 30? I’ll probably keep the OG 16, 11 from the McMurray chicks and however many of the hatches that turn out to be pullets. I know the 16 are comfortable where they are but I wouldn’t want any more in that coop. I was thinking if I got the new batch used to a new coop maybe they would return there every night? Or would they follow the old flock.
Maybe I can get a larger second coop to hold 30 and keep the smaller coop for Something else. But that would have to be a huge coop.

It's possible they could be 'homed' and follow that habit.
Why so many birds?