So many idea, so little money.

[redleger]

My first official post. We currently have 4 hens and one Ahole rooster. We are looking to get minimum 4 more hens for laying and possibly 5 more for broiling. Eventually I'm thinking 15 birds and a breeding program but that's far down the road. Current situation is I have 2 coops I got on the cheap, and I have them connected by a tunnel allowing them to move between them for laying and sleeping. They sleep in the white one and lay in the red one. (This was not my idea, that's just how they decided to do it.) I can house 10 chickens between the two assuming they cooperated. With wanting to get to 15 and beyond, would it be acceptable to search for another 1 or 2 small coops and connect them to allow them to choose their own sleeping arrangements or should I suck it up and figure out how to get one large coop? I know eventually I will need to separate the broilers from the layers and the brooders need a space too. I'm looking for any advice.

Current set up is the two coops in the picture and a 30x40 pen that has managed to keep land dwelling predators away. I had a half-shell made of PVC but that didn't survive the first major storm we had as seen in my PFP. I have them anchored now and I learned my lesson there. Now they just run to the coops when the hawks come around. That's a different problem though and I have a plan to fix that. Tarp and plastic were for wind breaks because the winter wind is brutal.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you located? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing.

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

15 hens

• 60 square feet in the coop. 8'x8' is easier to build than 6'x10'
• 15 feet of roost
• 150 square feet in the run. 10'x15', 12'x12' or 8'x20'
• 15 square feet of ventilation.
• 4 nest boxes.

Integration requires extra space beyond these minimums.

The most budget-friendly coops are usually the cattle-panel hoop coops but sometimes you can get a used shed for the cost of moving it -- which is a great option when you need a larger coop.

Shed Conversions

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-mulligan.74743/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-coop-page.65912/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-scoop-on-a-rubbermaid-big-max-coop.76444/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/toy-shed-conversion.64879/

Hoop Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-tractor.69336/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-coop-brooder-with-roll-up-sides.75720/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-biddie-bordello-a-hoop-coop-run-combo.72189/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/

 

[redleger]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you located? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing.

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

15 hens

• 60 square feet in the coop. 8'x8' is easier to build than 6'x10'
• 15 feet of roost
• 150 square feet in the run. 10'x15', 12'x12' or 8'x20'
• 15 square feet of ventilation.
• 4 nest boxes.

Integration requires extra space beyond these minimums.

The most budget-friendly coops are usually the cattle-panel hoop coops but sometimes you can get a used shed for the cost of moving it -- which is a great option when you need a larger coop.

Shed Conversions

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-mulligan.74743/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-coop-page.65912/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-scoop-on-a-rubbermaid-big-max-coop.76444/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/toy-shed-conversion.64879/

Hoop Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-tractor.69336/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-coop-brooder-with-roll-up-sides.75720/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-biddie-bordello-a-hoop-coop-run-combo.72189/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/

Thank you. I meet all those requirements for what I have, thanks solely to this forum. The question is can I use multiple coops or do I build one large one, which is not really affordable right now thanks to the price of materials. If multiple coops, will they segregate into the multiple coops or do I have to worry about them trying to crowd into just one?

 

[DobieLover]

If multiple coops, will they segregate into the multiple coops or do I have to worry about them trying to crowd into just one?

Flocks raised together will stay together. Even if they are raised apart, they will eventually all want to be together.

 

[linguini]

Thank you. I meet all those requirements for what I have, thanks solely to this forum. The question is can I use multiple coops or do I build one large one, which is not really affordable right now thanks to the price of materials. If multiple coops, will they segregate into the multiple coops or do I have to worry about them trying to crowd into just one?

We have two coops and both connected to a run/pen with door open to the pen 24x7.
We have 8 chickens, when they were young (4-5 weeks) they would all piled up in the old coop. But after the second coop was introduced, they sorted out by themselves! Typically there are 1-2 chickens choose to go to the old coop. But there are times we see up to 4 of them in the old coop, and sometimes we see all 8 of them in the new coop!

 

[3KillerBs]

Thank you. I meet all those requirements for what I have, thanks solely to this forum. The question is can I use multiple coops or do I build one large one, which is not really affordable right now thanks to the price of materials. If multiple coops, will they segregate into the multiple coops or do I have to worry about them trying to crowd into just one?

If you're going to use multiple coops you might end up having to separate subflocks into their own coop and their own portions of the run to keep them from piling in together.

I tried to give my juveniles their own space within the big coop with their own roosts and it didn't work -- they wanted to be with the big girls.

If it works better for you to get/build another small coop It might or might not work. You can only try.

 

[redleger]

If you're going to use multiple coops you might end up having to separate subflocks into their own coop and their own portions of the run to keep them from piling in together.

I tried to give my juveniles their own space within the big coop with their own roosts and it didn't work -- they wanted to be with the big girls.

If it works better for you to get/build another small coop It might or might not work. You can only try.

Thank you. Materials are so expensive and so are larger prefabbed coops. Even Rubbermaid sheds have gone parabolic. I'm just going to start buying wood every payday like they are stocks, and build a large one. I have a feeling 10 chickens would just pile into the small white coop.

 

[aart]

Materials are so expensive and so are larger prefabbed coops. Even Rubbermaid sheds have gone parabolic. I'm just going to start buying wood every payday like they are stocks, and build a large one.

Even before the recent inflation's, building good housing for chicken is not cheep...
...it's a common misconception.

 

[redleger]

Even before the recent inflation's, building good housing for chicken is not cheep...
...it's a common misconception.

true. If other things weren't also going up in price, I could absorb the added cost, but compounding error and all.