I'm sure many of you have faced this issue, and most might suggest I just build another coop. Financially that's not an option. Here's my situation, I had the Amish build me an insultated coop (it gets real cold here), asked for an 8x8, thinking inside dimensions would give me 64 sq. feet, they built an 8x8 building with insulated walls giving me 7x7 interior space. A sad mistake due to miscommunication, oh well. Now I had quite a bit of $ tied up in my coop, and I am raising 19 baby chicks (4 of which are Silkies, only needing 2 sq.ft of space). I am faced with this decision, should I just find new homes for 5 of my chickens (because I want to give each chicken 4 sq.ft. of coop space), or can I happily home them all in the coop if I were to build two lofts adding the required additional space? I don't think I will have a problem giving them all enough roosting space, but I cannot offer all the roosting space at the same heights, which I am worried will cause fighting. If I try to keep all my chickens in this coop, am I asking for trouble, such as fighting, feather picking, ect.? Would it be kinder to try to find a new home for 5 of them. Hate to give any of my girls up, it's like asking which children would you like to put up for adoption. My husband already was not real happy with spending money on the coop, and although he is not into the chicken thing, he did build me a beautiful 8x4 brooder for my babies. He says no more $ for coops, just get rid of some of them. Help! Any advice??? I suppose if I knew someone out there would love them and care for them like me, I'd consider it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
