So Im new with chickens and wasn't sure how to start with a coop and ended up getting a dog house at first. its big enough to hold 4 girls and I added 2 nest boxes and a roost and door and all that fun stuff. I found out I would be getting 9 instead. So I did some ebay shopping and bought an actual coop that says it would hold 6. When I got it, it was busted up pretty badly and I told ebay about it but still did repairs so I could still use it thinking I wasnt getting a replacement, since their site said "No replacements". So now I have 2 coops set up back there, but just yesterday got an email from the ebay seller of the coop saying the are mailing me a second coop for free since this one was beat up pretty badly. so in just a few days, Ill have 3 coops out there. My question would be, do i need to rig it so all of them are connected or will they all decide which they like better and use it and not worry about them being separated?
I have two bigger coops that share the same chicken yard. The buildings aren't next to each other, the chickens come and go from both of them all day to eat and lay eggs, they even switch which coop they roost in every now and then, "grass is always greener" kind of thing. Shouldn't be a problem.
I was up to nine coops at the house I rented, and will be moving them to my new house. I've got one big coop there (transmogrified from an old, dilapidated garage) which WILL hold the entire flock, but ihave several roosters, so they do like to move their individual flockettes to new digs. Several BYCers have chicken "compounds" with multiple coops. You're in good company. My chickens coop-hop now and then as they establish different BFFs, or something.
I have three coops too...my main coop, a bantam coop, and like you - a doghouse coop. I reserve my doghouse coop for newbies who are quarantined for a few weeks before being introduced to the others. But my girls freerange together during the day, and go back to their respective coops each evening - no big deal! Keep them all...for at least a year (to make sure you wouldn't want to expand)!
