Second Coop

[Jane820]

I am a first time chicken mama, and my chicks aren’t even into the coop yet, but would it make sense to build a small extra coop and run?

I am thinking something smaller on a temporary basis in case one gets sick or injured, we get chicks in the future that aren’t big enough to integrate, quarantine new chickens, allow a mama to raise some babies, etc.

If so, would a 4x4 coop with nesting boxes set out in an attachment + a 4x8 run be enough especially if it was a mama + chicks? How far (or close) should this be to the big coop and run? If we let our chickens out in the yard supervised, is there an amount of feet we shouldn’t let them get within where maybe a secondary permitter is needed?

In case it matters, our big coop is about 60 square feet and the run is 188 which is big enough for 15. I have 12 now so there really isn’t much room to add any sort of separator.

 

[mowin]

I had to build a second coop for a hen that was suddenly being attacked after almost a yr. It was either cull her, which I'm fine with, or build a second coop and get her some company. I built a second coop. I do have a rabbit type coop for injuries, but the flock didn't take her back after she recovered, so it was a great excuse to build a second coop and get more chickens.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. That's a great question.

Many people do have an isolation ward/maternity ward/integration pen of some sort. They have all sorts of uses.

4x4 is a handy size -- big enough to raise some chicks or use as a temporary facility for 4-6 adults but not so big as to take up an inconvenient amount of space in a good-sized yard. My Little Monitor Coop is a 4x4 and I intend to set it up just that way once the new Chicken Palace is done.

Here's a useful article on quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

 

[rosemarythyme]

If possible, make it moveable so you can accommodate the widest possibility of uses (quarantine, move it as far away as possible, housing sick birds or doing integration, move it right up against existing set up).

My brooder is my isolation cage. It's quite literally the top part of my old prefab, and I can move it by myself by simply dragging it. As I don't ever plan on adding adult birds there's no need for it to sit outside the run, but if that was a consideration I'd need a 2nd person to help me move it out.