To tell you how I got to where I am today, is rather lengthy. But here is my scenario. I have two coops. One larger coop and one smaller coop. In the smaller coop I raised baby chicks in, until they reached the size of the adults I already had. The two groups are now integrated during the day, and the younger ones should start laying eggs soon. I would like to make the smaller coop a 'nesting coop' and the larger coop the 'roosting coop'. This is not the norm, and I'm not sure that it's acceptable. Do they have to be under the same roof, nesting boxes and roosting bars? As longs as they are out of the weather, does it matter? Please help.
It maybe a little problematic to encourage the hens already laying to use the small coop. Personally, I'd keep the small coop for housing sick, injured hens or for quarantine purposes - its always useful to have a coop for such things. CT
CTKen makes a good point. You could probably make it work...... but it will take some time and be fairly stressful to re-train your older girls to lay in the other (relocated?) nests. I would ask .....why do you want to do this? Look at your long term chickening goals and assess how these 2 coops will fit into those plans. What are the sizes (feet by feet) of these 2 coops? Are the birds free ranged or confined to a run?
