It must be spring, everyone is talking about building coops!
I'm expanding my flock, and that's going to require expanding my coop. I have a great coop that someone built for me. It's 3'4" x 4'3" (about 14 square feet). I have four hens, which is technically too many for the space (going by the 4 square feet per hen rule), but they don't spend much time in the coop unless they are sleeping.) I was hoping to just build onto the existing coop, but I can't figure out a way to do it without either making it really hard to clean, or fiddling with the existing features (the roosts, food box, poop tray).
It would be easiest to build a second coop in the space, but I don't know how that would work. Would the chickens pick a coop and sleep there all the time? Are there any downsides to have two coops instead of one? Should I keep trying to find a way to expand the current coop?
My run is 11' by 8.5' (about 90 square feet). (I've been trying to figure out a way to turn the coop so I could expand it from the back of the coop, but I can't seem to find another way that the coop would fit in the run. Here are some Google SketchUp pics of my current arrangement: https://picasaweb.google.com/EricaManiez/ChickenRun?feat=directlink. I've been trying to figure out a way to turn the coop so I could expand it from the back of the coop, but I can't seem to find another way that the coop would fit in the run. . The tree can't be cut down without a lot of expense, and my husband will have kittens if I expand the run.
Thanks for any suggestions!
I'm expanding my flock, and that's going to require expanding my coop. I have a great coop that someone built for me. It's 3'4" x 4'3" (about 14 square feet). I have four hens, which is technically too many for the space (going by the 4 square feet per hen rule), but they don't spend much time in the coop unless they are sleeping.) I was hoping to just build onto the existing coop, but I can't figure out a way to do it without either making it really hard to clean, or fiddling with the existing features (the roosts, food box, poop tray).
It would be easiest to build a second coop in the space, but I don't know how that would work. Would the chickens pick a coop and sleep there all the time? Are there any downsides to have two coops instead of one? Should I keep trying to find a way to expand the current coop?
My run is 11' by 8.5' (about 90 square feet). (I've been trying to figure out a way to turn the coop so I could expand it from the back of the coop, but I can't seem to find another way that the coop would fit in the run. Here are some Google SketchUp pics of my current arrangement: https://picasaweb.google.com/EricaManiez/ChickenRun?feat=directlink. I've been trying to figure out a way to turn the coop so I could expand it from the back of the coop, but I can't seem to find another way that the coop would fit in the run. . The tree can't be cut down without a lot of expense, and my husband will have kittens if I expand the run.
Thanks for any suggestions!
