Overcrowding in coop?

[charliecleveland]

Hi - I have five silkies. Three are laying and two are still young at about 2 months. I have two Eglu Go coops. The three older ones usually go into one and the two younger ones are supposed to go into the second one. The younger ones just decided they wanted to integrate themselves into the older hen’s coop. Five seems like a bit crowded and I’m not sure what I should do about this. Any ideas? Getting a bigger coop may be a little expensive after I bought 2 Omlet coops.
I do let them out every morning at sunrise and they spend most of their days in about 80 sq ft of protected run with supervised free range time.

 

[nuthatched]

Sell the omelets and invest in a decent sized coop.

 

[Shadrach]

Hi - I have five silkies. Three are laying and two are still young at about 2 months. I have two Eglu Go coops. The three older ones usually go into one and the two younger ones are supposed to go into the second one. The younger ones just decided they wanted to integrate themselves into the older hen’s coop. Five seems like a bit crowded and I’m not sure what I should do about this. Any ideas? Getting a bigger coop may be a little expensive after I bought 2 Omlet coops.
I do let them out every morning at sunrise and they spend most of their days in about 80 sq ft of protected run with supervised free range time.

As long as they can get into the run from dawn to dusk I shouldn't worry overmuch about the space in the coop. It's a bit tight but they've made the decision to move in together and I assume the second coop is still at their disposal should they feel crowded.

 

[charliecleveland]

As long as they can get into the run from dawn to dusk I shouldn't worry overmuch about the space in the coop. It's a bit tight but they've made the decision to move in together and I assume the second coop is still at their disposal should they feel crowded.

Thank you! That makes me feel better. Yes the other coop is still open and available if any of them want to go somewhere else.

 

[Evadig]

Maybe if you start seeing signs of bullying, take the two and force them to sleep in the other Omlet. I once had ten chickens that wanted to crowd into a coop that is 8ft by 4ft...needless to say some hens were getting bullied but it never crossed their minds to go to another coop. I physically removed the ones that didn't belong there and put them in their respective coops. They all free range together but sleep in different coops based on age and compatibility.

 

[charliecleveland]

Maybe if you start seeing signs of bullying, take the two and force them to sleep in the other Omlet. I once had ten chickens that wanted to crowd into a coop that is 8ft by 4ft...needless to say some hens were getting bullied but it never crossed their minds to go to another coop. I physically removed the ones that didn't belong there and put them in their respective coops. They all free range together but sleep in different coops based on age and compatibility.

Interesting. I’m definitely going to keep an eye out!