Has anyone ever built a chicken duplex?

[WillowHavenFarm]

My husband raised chickens as a child but this is our solo journey into it as a family. We are building a raised coop using a truck topper as a roof for our current birds and want to add more to our flock next year. The raised coop has 3.5 feet of space under it and the thought crossed our minds that it could be made into additional coop space. Curious though if chickens would use the lower space or if they would all gravitate to the upper apartment. Wasn't sure if keeping the newbies in the lower coop for several days, at first would condition them to automatically go into the lower coop or not. Not sure if the added info will be hlepful or not but due to several predators here (coyotes, minks, raccoons, hawks, dogs, etc...) they will not be free ranged but will have a 25' square run. Thoughts appreciated.

Here is a link to the coop when it was partially built. The top part is its own fully operational coop with nesting boxes, roosts, access doors, etc... We are considering turning that empty space underneath into fully operational coop space as well.

Sorry for the link. I can't for the life of me to get an actual photo to load on here either directly from my laptop or through photobucket.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/3gs4me/018_zps4545920d.jpg

 

[4 the Birds]

My husband raised chickens as a child but this is our solo journey into it as a family. We are building a raised coop using a truck topper as a roof for our current birds and want to add more to our flock next year. The raised coop has 3.5 feet of space under it and the thought crossed our minds that it could be made into additional coop space. Curious though if chickens would use the lower space or if they would all gravitate to the upper apartment. Wasn't sure if keeping the newbies in the lower coop for several days, at first would condition them to automatically go into the lower coop or not. Not sure if the added info will be hlepful or not but due to several predators here (coyotes, minks, raccoons, hawks, dogs, etc...) they will not be free ranged but will have a 25' square run. Thoughts appreciated.

A picture would help. Not sure if you have a pickup camper or just a bed shell. Anyway.... the any upper area would be good for a roost spot since birds like to be up and safe at night. Nest boxes in the lower area on the other side from the roost bars (poo piles will be below the roost bar). The slider windows of campers would offer good ventilation and natural light! Add HD mesh to the windows to keep out predators. Hope this helps.

 

[WillowHavenFarm]

I just added a link to a photo of the coop when it was partially done as well as a more detailed description so you could have a better understanding of what we are working with.