Two Coops in a Run

[aart]

Height is good for ventilation, especially in cold winters.....which your coops are lacking,
but it doesn't make for more space for more birds.

 

[NatJ]

Simple idea: sit both coops in the run and watch what happens.

Little bit more involved: put both coops up on cinder blocks or equivalent, so they do not take up any "floor" space in the run. Add ramps or a perch for chickens to get into now-raised coops.

You already said the run has a roof, right?
Is it really secure against predators? The chickens might be able to use the whole run as "coop," and just sleep and lay eggs in those little coops.

When they are genuinely sleeping, they only need enough roost space. As soon as they wake up, they need room to move around and stretch their wings--but if they can come out immediately, that can be OK. (Does not work if they have to wait for you to come open a door; works fine if they have a door open 24/7, which means the run must be predator-proof for this to work.)

When it rains or snows, the chickens need to have enough space under a roof--but the roof of your run might be enough.

 

[Vickischics]

Here is my 2 cents.
Originally, Uncle agreed to half of your flock-Correct?
As I understand, he Bailed-Correct?
Now you have all the chickens-Correct?
You have a larger coop & a smaller Coop.
You already spent $700.00.
You have one run.
You want to raise the two coops on block to allow space & more ventilation inside One large Run.
You posted an Original Picture of the two coops and everyone has agreed more ventilation is needed. But, you did add much more ventilation already. You've also added more roosts so every chicken has a place roost.
Here is my 2 cents.
1. You can do what aart suggested and sale or give away some of the chickens and just keep your favorite.
By having less chickens will help solve your crowding issues.
2. Cram all the chickens into one coop and do as your husband suggested and use the smaller coop for water n food in the winter.
3. PROBLEM: if the chickens think the weather is bad, they will Not go outside nor will the go to the other coop to eat n drink.
4. PROBLEM: Fighting, pecking and rooster abuse is assured with your current housing situation.
5. PROBLEM: You have too many chicken because Uncle reneged on his deal. Bad Uncle!
6. Uncle needs to Step Up and take his chickens as promised or buy/build you a Coop to properly house all of these chickens he stuck you with.
7. He needs to buy you a storage shed and you can modify it to fit all your chickens.
8. He needs to help build a covered run to keep it free of snow and protect your girls.
Rule of thumb: INSIDE: 4 sq feet per bird. OUTSIDE: 10sq ft per bird
(Visually its four 12x12 or ten 12x12 flooring tiles per chicken).

If you try what your husband suggests, and it doesn't work, then you go to plan B.
Or you go back to plan A and only keep the number of chickens that your current coop can hold.
A Covered and shielded run because of your pending weather of wind, rain, sleet and snow.
If you do not provide enough space inside or out, your chickens will become stressed and the pecking and fighting will begin.
Plus, your poor girls will become Abused and Beat up by the Rooster.
*You have some big decisions to make.
Mine would be to downsize my chicken flock to fit the cute coop and get rid of Mr. Rooster.
Otherwise, your going to be having lots of chicks since you have Mr. Rooster with nothing to do ALL winter long cooped up with all those ladies going Broody. Then, you'll need to build more nesting boxes for each of them.This issue brings on additional problems and costs.
I'd really tell "Uncle" he screwed you over and he needs to rectify this problem!
Good Luck and please keep us posted.

 

[Vickischics]

I think us chicken people need to band together and form some type of group to stop the manufacturers of these small urban coops from lying about about the max capacity.
That's false advertisement and something needs to be done.
Also us chicken people need to band together and make another group to stop the hatcheries from labeling their hybrid Easter eggers as True Amerucanas that ticks me off too.
How about "Chicken owners against false advertisement?"

Both are a Bait and Switch Tactic for sure!

 

[Bblancha]

I raised 15 chicks -- half of which were supposed to go to my uncle once they were "started pullet age" (about 12 to 15 weeks). I had bought a coop advertised big enough for 8 hens (really about 6). Realized that it was a little small, thus bought another coop big enough for 10 to 12 chickens (really about 8 to 10).

Long story short, our uncle crapped out on us, and I now have 14 hens and a roo. They are 17 weeks old -- two of them are currently laying. No issues.

Love them all -- and I am currently housing them all in our run that holds our larger coop inside. They all happily go into the coop every night. Still, I am pretty sure that coop is too small for the long haul. I have already invested over $700 bucks in coops. I can't afford to put any more money out -- so I am thinking of using both coops in the run to give them all plenty of space to roost at night. Unfortunately, they cannot be put together or attached, as they are made of recycled plastic-wood polymer composite materials.

My husband is against this idea - he says that our chickens will be best all together in the winter for warmth, and the chickens in the smaller coop will have a severe disadvantage -- if it even gets used at all. He thinks we should use the smaller coop to put the food and heated water in the winter to protect from the snow and elements ... as they are used to their coop even if it is a bit on the small side, and none of them are going to start using the smaller coop, even if we offer it now. Is he right about that?

I think we should put both coops up on cement blocks, two high, to give added space underneath each (to give more floor area -- to put food and water in the winter in a covered space in the run) -- and that both would get used. Am I wrong? Would they all just continue using the one coop?

I had an established coop and run for the first 10 chickens i bought...ended up with 10 more chicks .I knew eventually I wanted all of them together so ....i got another length of run and a second coop. A divider was between them for a month. Just recently i took the divider out with very little problems. Every night they seperate back into their original groups and head back to their coop.

 

[BonNuit]

Here is my 2 cents.
Originally, Uncle agreed to half of your flock-Correct?
As I understand, he Bailed-Correct?
Now you have all the chickens-Correct?
You have a larger coop & a smaller Coop.
You already spent $700.00.
You have one run.
You want to raise the two coops on block to allow space & more ventilation inside One large Run.
You posted an Original Picture of the two coops and everyone has agreed more ventilation is needed. But, you did add much more ventilation already. You've also added more roosts so every chicken has a place roost.
Here is my 2 cents.
1. You can do what aart suggested and sale or give away some of the chickens and just keep your favorite.
By having less chickens will help solve your crowding issues.
2. Cram all the chickens into one coop and do as your husband suggested and use the smaller coop for water n food in the winter.
3. PROBLEM: if the chickens think the weather is bad, they will Not go outside nor will the go to the other coop to eat n drink.
4. PROBLEM: Fighting, pecking and rooster abuse is assured with your current housing situation.
5. PROBLEM: You have too many chicken because Uncle reneged on his deal. Bad Uncle!
6. Uncle needs to Step Up and take his chickens as promised or buy/build you a Coop to properly house all of these chickens he stuck you with.
7. He needs to buy you a storage shed and you can modify it to fit all your chickens.
8. He needs to help build a covered run to keep it free of snow and protect your girls.
Rule of thumb: INSIDE: 4 sq feet per bird. OUTSIDE: 10sq ft per bird
(Visually its four 12x12 or ten 12x12 flooring tiles per chicken).

If you try what your husband suggests, and it doesn't work, then you go to plan B.
Or you go back to plan A and only keep the number of chickens that your current coop can hold.
A Covered and shielded run because of your pending weather of wind, rain, sleet and snow.
If you do not provide enough space inside or out, your chickens will become stressed and the pecking and fighting will begin.
Plus, your poor girls will become Abused and Beat up by the Rooster.
*You have some big decisions to make.
Mine would be to downsize my chicken flock to fit the cute coop and get rid of Mr. Rooster.
Otherwise, your going to be having lots of chicks since you have Mr. Rooster with nothing to do ALL winter long cooped up with all those ladies going Broody. Then, you'll need to build more nesting boxes for each of them.This issue brings on additional problems and costs.
I'd really tell "Uncle" he screwed you over and he needs to rectify this problem!
Good Luck and please keep us posted.

He did bail -- and it was crappy --- BUT, he in his defense, he bailed because he lost his income due to COVID-19 and couldn't afford his coop anymore by the time the chicks were "starter" pullet aged. Therefore, there's no way he could contribute to my coop, unfortunately. What stunk was that he waited until the last minute to let me know, after everyone in my house already was attached to the hens and Otis, the rooster.

The run is 14x20 -- chain link, aproned/covered with hardware cloth, with the top covered with chicken wire and currently half-covered with polycarbonate corrugated roofing panels. I had planned to cover the remaining half as well, before winter. One side of the fence is blocked, or effectively walled-in by stacked cut wood. Another side is blocked off by the wall of our garage. The remaining two sides are open -- however, one of those open sides are wind-blocked by our woods. It would not be hard to plastic sheet up the sides the fence leaving ventilation at the top effectively making the whole run a sort of "coop" ...

 

[BonNuit]

For those of you kind enough to have answered my original post, I just wanted to update. I think I've come up with a solution that is feasible. I've decided to roof the entire run with clear polycarbonate roofing panels -- with a relatively high pitch. This will mean the entire area is covered making it entirely usable for all weather. The entire run is hardware clothed over the chainlink. Additionally, the back side will be tarped with our split wood against it. The two side walls with have Plexiglas up the sides leaving a ventilatatation gap before the roof. The front is effectively wind blocked by our garage which sits in front of it and is not in the direction of wind patterns. This effectively makes the WHOLE run a the coop -- and the two small coops just where they roost. We can then use the chicken tractor and the channel between the garage and the run to create a tunnel to increase their run in the spring.

Right now, our only struggle is working on finding the best way to support the panels over the chain link.

Edited to add -- I just want to thank so many of you for your wisdom -- I am truly appreciative of you.

 

[Vickischics]

Great! Sounds like you got this situation all figured out. Good for you chicken Mama. Lol