One huge coop vs multiple small coops

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Ah, ok...then I don't feel as bad with my idea of one or two acres fenced in for chickens. I also like to garden, and I've learned how chickens will scratch through and/or eat almost anything, so I thought that an acre or two just for them would be a good compromise.

OK, so I have at least one person saying one big coop will work. I'll wait to hear more opinions. And like I said, I'm years away from actually doing any of this, so this is just for my mental filing cabinet of information.

 

[greenSearcher]

I have 42 chickens, 9 are juvenilles in the garage,and will move out to 'Chicken City' soon. The remaining are in three small coops with its own yard of 900 sq ft. The yards are grouped together with common fence lines. I have had birds go into the wrong yard/coop and usually find themselves told to move on by the head hen, or they get fussy because things aren't 'right' and pace to be let out along the common fence. I have only had rooster issues when I had speckled sussex adult w/ his harem and in a nearby coop and I had 2 SS boys trying to earn the harem in another. I had to put Punkit back in his yard, to get things to calm down. I have since then sold most of the excess roosters including the SS boys, leaving each flock with the head roo and a spare (except the yellow coop has 3 silkies for spares.) Each coop/run has a shade cloth awning to help with the heat, but in the dog days of summer I will probably let all of them out of their runs in the afternoon so they can lay along the North side of the house in the deep shade. No one comes to the front door, so what's does the chicken poop on the porch matter. The chickens will follow DH anywhere if he has a cup of scratch in his hand.