I currently have one coop with four hens that only go in at night to sleep and range the yard all day. When I peek in at night, they are all snuggled together into a chicken pile even though they have plenty of room to spread out. I wanted to add to the flock and thought about buying a second identical coop. Would the chickens separate themselves at night or would they all try to fit into the original coop. In which case, I might worry about over crowding. Any advice would be appreciated.
How big is your original coop, is it secured at night, and how large of a run do they have access to? How many birds do you plan to add, and will these be chick/pullets or fully grown birds? Your original coop may be big enough if you are adding 4 more birds. I have 14 in a 4x8 coop with two levels, and they only go in to lay and sleep. Everytime I've added birds, they just all got along and didn't segregate themselves. If they have access to a large run, you can have a smaller coop. You will need to clean it more often.
