After culling some roosters and losing a couple of hens (including 1 of my 3 older girls) I now have 2 slightly older hens in 1 slightly larger coop. I have 5 hens and my roo in a slightly smaller coop. The coops are side by side with a common wall. These are 3-sided coops with the the open wire side facing south. The older ones stayed plenty warm last winter, but now I worry about the 2 girls by themselves in the larger coop. I think I need to integrate them for the winter time for warmth.
I am not sure if it will be easier to move the 2 girls in with the younger ones in the smaller coop (by smaller I mean probably 5-6 sq ft. or so, no much) since there are 5 hens laying in the boxes in that one. It has nicer nesting boxes and more of them, though they mostly just use one box, sometimes 2 if the one is overoccupied. They do double up sometimes, lol.
OR
Do I move the younger ones to the bigger coop (more space) where there are less nesting boxes, but it will be the "home turf" of the older girls, possibly making it easier for them to integrate since the larger amount of chickens will be uprooted, giving the 2 hens a sort of home field advantage? But then I will have 5 hens having to get familiar with new nesting boxes instead of just 2.
They all free range together. One of the older ones is the lowest in the pecking order and I worry about her being bullied too much if they are cooped up together for long periods if the weather is nasty.
I will let the extra coop lay empty for the winter so I can add some spring chicks next year.
I am not sure if it will be easier to move the 2 girls in with the younger ones in the smaller coop (by smaller I mean probably 5-6 sq ft. or so, no much) since there are 5 hens laying in the boxes in that one. It has nicer nesting boxes and more of them, though they mostly just use one box, sometimes 2 if the one is overoccupied. They do double up sometimes, lol.
OR
Do I move the younger ones to the bigger coop (more space) where there are less nesting boxes, but it will be the "home turf" of the older girls, possibly making it easier for them to integrate since the larger amount of chickens will be uprooted, giving the 2 hens a sort of home field advantage? But then I will have 5 hens having to get familiar with new nesting boxes instead of just 2.
They all free range together. One of the older ones is the lowest in the pecking order and I worry about her being bullied too much if they are cooped up together for long periods if the weather is nasty.
I will let the extra coop lay empty for the winter so I can add some spring chicks next year.
