Making a bigger chicken coop

[LoribelleF]

Hello fellow chicken parents...
I'm coming to you once again for help. I follow threads and posts on care and they are very helpful and informative so I'm hoping the more experienced parents can help now. My friend is a chicken mom too and has had to rebuild her flock following a hawk attack this spring (it was terrible, but a blessing all at the same time.) We learned that a hawk circles our property and the free rangers she had needed to be kept in for safety. They wouldn't stay and were destroying my gardens. My girls were safe and got a bigger run out of the deal. Her babies are now safe and enclosed in a pen with netting and the whole 9 yards.
Problem...i now want more, ...my coop will hold 4, the 4th one is with her babies until big enough. How do i make my coop big enough for more? Is it simply adding on the sides and expanding the roofline somehow? Or a total rebuild?
Suggestions are appreciated I'm stuck and without a plan my hubby won't move forward, don't blame him.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Measurements of what you have and knowing how many you plan to keep will help a lot.

 

[Sonya9]

That looks like a chicken tractor with a permanent run? You might want to enclose the whole thing into two separate living areas (by whole thing I mean the area covered with the roof. Then you can create a large run (or two) by using welded wire fencing and pounding some stakes/pipes into the ground. Run avian netting over the top.

The fencing part goes quick but you have to decide if it makes sense to build out the rest of that tractor or just get/build a separate hen house.

As your flock grows you will want a separate area/run for hens with chicks, a second rooster or whatever.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Knowing the size of the coop you have and how many you want could help. A lot. An easy fix would be to tear out the floor and internal wall of that tractor and enclose the entire tractor. Make it a walk-in coop if it is wide enough. Then build a bigger run.

 

[LoribelleF]

Measurements of what you have and knowing how many you plan to keep will help a lot.

The house unit measures 8 ft. Long x 4 ft wide. Run is 4ft wid x 16 ft long.

 

[LoribelleF]

The house unit measures 8 ft. Long x 4 ft wide. Run is 4ft wid x 16 ft long.

I forgot to say 5 or 6 hens

 

[LoribelleF]

Knowing the size of the coop you have and how many you want could help. A lot. An easy fix would be to tear out the floor and internal wall of that tractor and enclose the entire tractor. Make it a walk-in coop if it is wide enough. Then build a bigger run.

The coop measures 8ft long x 4ft wide.
I would like 5 or 6 hens.
I'm not sure I understand your plan past taking out the floor and internal wall. Is there someplace I can see a picture of idea you have?
I have a front walk in door and the inside of the current coop has the perch and egg box. I have access to the egg box inside the run.

 

[Sonya9]

The house unit measures 8 ft. Long x 4 ft wide. Run is 4ft wid x 16 ft long.

So a basic 8x4 walk in coop? Just realized you are in PA, does that mean long snowy winters? If the birds will be inside all winter take that into account, and whatever you do don't build it "just big enough for 6 hens" because in all likelihood that will change in the future.

 

[21hens-incharge]

The coop measures 8ft long x 4ft wide.
I would like 5 or 6 hens.
I'm not sure I understand your plan past taking out the floor and internal wall. Is there someplace I can see a picture of idea you have?
I have a front walk in door and the inside of the current coop has the perch and egg box. I have access to the egg box inside the run.

I agree with Ridgerunner and Sonya9. The part with a roof....wall it all in to make a 4x8 fully walled structure, take out the existing floor and inside wall, move the nest boxes and put a ramp on that end into the run. Easy peasy a coop with roof big enough.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not sure I understand your plan past taking out the floor and internal wall. Is there someplace I can see a picture of idea you have?

No photos, I don't have anything like that. On that 8' x 4' section put plywood everywhere you have wire. Remember to provide ventilation and a door you can walk in.