We are considering having a flock of bantam and one of LF. Currently we have 3 bantam with 6 LF. If we add a coop with a small door for the bantams to the same run, will the bantams just continue to use the current coop? Or will they begin using the new coop?is there a way to encourage the bantams to use new coop? Ultimately we will create a separate run. We are considering this because we just inherited this flock who have been free ranging and in our environment they can no longer free range. This has caused LF to peck bantams. Any suggestions or information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Chickens are creatures of habit so they may just continue to use the original coop. When I move anyone for whatever the reason I keep them in their new home for about two days. That usually does the trick and they'll go to the new place. I hope it all works out smoothly for you.
You may end up with some from both in each coop. I always do. I let them sleep with whom ever they want.
I have two coops that utilize the same run. Most of the chickens prefer to sleep in the coop they've always slept in. Occasionally, due to friction at roosting time, a hen may decide to go sleep in the other coop, then go back to the original coop sometime later. Recently, I decided to move five hens out of the coop they were raised in to make it available for a new batch of pullets I plan to raise in May. So I simply shut up the coop, and these five were forced to go roost in the other coop. Only one was determined to keep using the original coop, but she came around in a couple of weeks when she knew she wasn't going to get in. They are creatures of habit, but they can be encouraged to change with very little effort and fuss. If you have some who flatly refuse to use their new coop, you simply need to coop them up in it for a few days until they imprint on it as "home", and they will become habituated to it just as they were to the original.
