If you were building a 2nd, smaller coop, in full sun - what would you do differently?

[CatsandCrops]

Long story short - we have decided to build a second smaller coop on our property in order to give our girls a more peaceful life. Pecking order fights have gotten a bit out of hand so we are starting to build a 2nd coop for 2 of our 8 hens with the intentions of purchasing 2-4 chicks in the spring (thoughts are for 2 to go with the 2 ladies in the smaller coop and 2 to go with the 6 in the original coop).

We will be fully enclosing the coop and run with hardware cloth due to predators in the area (including digging 18 inches deep to keep the foxes/coyotes out). This coop will be in full sun vs partial shade that our current coop is in - we will be raising the coop off the ground so they can go under it for deep shade and plan to roof part of the run (also thinking about adding a shade cloth to the one side of the run to add a bit more shade). We currently have food/water in the coop 24/7 via PCP set ups and plan do something similar in the new coop. We were also kicking around the idea of building a removeable wall in the smaller coop in case we needed to house someone separate for whatever reason - right now our plan would be to use a dog kennel/cage in our garage if needed. Not sure if it would be worth the hassle though.

If you were doing this a second time around what would you change? What would you add? What did you wish you would have thought of for long term?

 

[3KillerBs]

Do you have any options other than full sun for this second coop?

This is what I did about the midday sun problem with my coop in it's temporary location (until our house is placed we can't build the permanent facility).

Consider the Monitor Roof design for maximum, draft-free ventilation.

 

[21hens-incharge]

How small are you thinking of going?

If integrating.....go much bigger than you think you will need.

How big is your existing coop and run?
Any particular design in mind?
Is adding onto your existing (in partial shade) coop an option?

Small coops in the sun heat up dramatically.

In your area.....plan for snow and having to tend birds in bad weather. While a raised coop SOUNDS nice, tending birds in bad weather when you cannot step inside kind of stinks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Long story short - we have decided to build a second smaller coop on our property in order to give our girls a more peaceful life. Pecking order fights have gotten a bit out of hand so we are starting to build a 2nd coop for 2 of our 8 hens with the intentions of purchasing 2-4 chicks in the spring (thoughts are for 2 to go with the 2 ladies in the smaller coop and 2 to go with the 6 in the original coop).

To me this raises a red flag. How much room do you have in that larger coop? How old are they? What fighting are you seeing, where and when? Severe pecking order fights with pullets or hens indicates you might not have enough room. Some of that may be your perception of what an out-of-hand fight is. Some pecking is normal but an out-to-kill fight isn't. Bad behaviors are often magnified by room being too tight. If you don't have sufficient room for eight chickens about the same age in there now integration later can really be challenging. I'm uncomfortable reading this, you might be headed for some serious issues in the future.

We will be fully enclosing the coop and run with hardware cloth due to predators in the area (including digging 18 inches deep to keep the foxes/coyotes out).

You might investigate an "apron", where you lay the fencing flat instead of burying it that deep. An apron is just as effective and is a lot easier to install without heavy digging or deep trenching equipment.

This coop will be in full sun vs partial shade that our current coop is in - we will be raising the coop off the ground so they can go under it for deep shade and plan to roof part of the run (also thinking about adding a shade cloth to the one side of the run to add a bit more shade). We currently have food/water in the coop 24/7 via PCP set ups and plan do something similar in the new coop.

My main criteria when positioning a coop/run is drainage. If water drains away you can manage everything else. If water drains to it and stands you are going to have issues. I don't know how big you plan to build the coop and run (or how big the other one is), that would influence me a lot. You are correct that shade is important. You can manage that by covering part of the run and blocking off the south or western sides, that's where your hot Ohio sun will come from. Maybe put your run on the north or east side of the coop to get shade that way?

We were also kicking around the idea of building a removeable wall in the smaller coop in case we needed to house someone separate for whatever reason - right now our plan would be to use a dog kennel/cage in our garage if needed. Not sure if it would be worth the hassle though.

I like the flexibility of some place to put one or more chickens on short notice if you need to or to help with integration. I have a few places like that, a built in brooder in the coop, a grow-out coop, and a shelter in the run. I don't know what your dog cage looks like. If it is one of those wire ones with a wire bottom, make this coop big enough so you can put it in there and still have room to work. That way you don't have any predator protection issues with it. That probably means you build a walk-in coop but you can hang it to use as a broody buster or to isolate a chicken. That means your new coop would need to be bigger than I think you are planning but that could be a real benefit for other reasons.

I would build the new coop/run where the run shares a fence with your current run. Have a door you can open or close. That way you can isolate them or let them merge. Gives you flexibility.

One of my main suggestions is to build it with your comfort and convenience in mind. Give yourself room to comfortably work. Give yourself as much flexibility as you can. People tend to think about what is good for their chickens and totally forget the human side of that equation. That is regrettable. Also, instead of thinking how many chickens can I shoehorn into this tiny space, think more in terms of how many chickens do I want or expect to eventually have and build more room than you think you need for them.

Good luck!

 

[aart]

I would not built it smaller and would not put it in full sun.

 

[CatsandCrops]

Long story short - we have decided to build a second smaller coop on our property in order to give our girls a more peaceful life. Pecking order fights have gotten a bit out of hand so we are starting to build a 2nd coop for 2 of our 8 hens with the intentions of purchasing 2-4 chicks in the spring (thoughts are for 2 to go with the 2 ladies in the smaller coop and 2 to go with the 6 in the original coop).

To me this raises a red flag. How much room do you have in that larger coop? How old are they? What fighting are you seeing, where and when? Severe pecking order fights with pullets or hens indicates you might not have enough room. Some of that may be your perception of what an out-of-hand fight is. Some pecking is normal but an out-to-kill fight isn't. Bad behaviors are often magnified by room being too tight. If you don't have sufficient room for eight chickens about the same age in there now integration later can really be challenging. I'm uncomfortable reading this, you might be headed for some serious issues in the future.

Our current coop is raised about 1.5 feet off the ground and is 8x5 with a separate bump out housing the 4 nesting boxes (so another, 1x4ish?). They are in an enclosed run that is roughly 110 square feet. The bottom girl on the pecking order we believe is half bantam; she is half the size of everyone else and is not laying yet even though everyone else has been for awhile. She is a sweet heart but everyone chases her away, doesnt allow her to eat at times etc. She is healthy; no signs of illness or mites/flies etc etc. The other one tries to hang out with her and also gets picked on. They have had some blood on their combs from pecking. We're softies and want to make sure everyone has a peaceful life - maybe wishful thinking on our part

We will be fully enclosing the coop and run with hardware cloth due to predators in the area (including digging 18 inches deep to keep the foxes/coyotes out).

You might investigate an "apron", where you lay the fencing flat instead of burying it that deep. An apron is just as effective and is a lot easier to install without heavy digging or deep trenching equipment.

We did consider an apron but decided in the long run we would rather dig. It also made things easier for building codes in our area.

This coop will be in full sun vs partial shade that our current coop is in - we will be raising the coop off the ground so they can go under it for deep shade and plan to roof part of the run (also thinking about adding a shade cloth to the one side of the run to add a bit more shade). We currently have food/water in the coop 24/7 via PCP set ups and plan do something similar in the new coop.

My main criteria when positioning a coop/run is drainage. If water drains away you can manage everything else. If water drains to it and stands you are going to have issues. I don't know how big you plan to build the coop and run (or how big the other one is), that would influence me a lot. You are correct that shade is important. You can manage that by covering part of the run and blocking off the south or western sides, that's where your hot Ohio sun will come from. Maybe put your run on the north or east side of the coop to get shade that way?

Drainage will not be an issue where we are planning the 2nd coop. We placed the first coop in the only part of our yard that has partial sun that is not situated within our woods.

We were also kicking around the idea of building a removeable wall in the smaller coop in case we needed to house someone separate for whatever reason - right now our plan would be to use a dog kennel/cage in our garage if needed. Not sure if it would be worth the hassle though.

I like the flexibility of some place to put one or more chickens on short notice if you need to or to help with integration. I have a few places like that, a built in brooder in the coop, a grow-out coop, and a shelter in the run. I don't know what your dog cage looks like. If it is one of those wire ones with a wire bottom, make this coop big enough so you can put it in there and still have room to work. That way you don't have any predator protection issues with it. That probably means you build a walk-in coop but you can hang it to use as a broody buster or to isolate a chicken. That means your new coop would need to be bigger than I think you are planning but that could be a real benefit for other reasons.

That's a good idea about just hanging the cage inside vs building a separation. Had not thought of that! Makes things easier lol

I would build the new coop/run where the run shares a fence with your current run. Have a door you can open or close. That way you can isolate them or let them merge. Gives you flexibility.

Due to building codes in our area, this is not possible. Our plan was once we separate the 2 out into the new coop; they are now a new flock and would not be merged again.

One of my main suggestions is to build it with your comfort and convenience in mind. Give yourself room to comfortably work. Give yourself as much flexibility as you can. People tend to think about what is good for their chickens and totally forget the human side of that equation. That is regrettable. Also, instead of thinking how many chickens can I shoehorn into this tiny space, think more in terms of how many chickens do I want or expect to eventually have and build more room than you think you need for them.

We thought we would be done at our girls now and built the first coop to accommodate them plus ourselves by being able to walk into it when needed etc. We were looking for suggestions on what others wished they had done vs what they did to see what we had forgotten or overlooked. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!! We appreciate it!