2 hen houses 1 flock?

[Castlewood]

Good morning all!
I'm faced with a tricky proposition. I have the chance to pick up some additional birds of a breed that I've wanted but missing from my flock. My run has plenty of space to accommodate the addition. My henhouse however, doesn't.

What challenges am I facing if I were to attempt to add a second henhouse? My gut says this is problematic since I'm assuming that the new, larger flock would still head as a group to one roost at the end of the day.

I have the room to divide the run so that each mini-flock can have their own house, but it seems like I'd short them space and variety in doing so.

Anyone try a dual-house set up? Is it doomed to fail?

Thanks! -C

 

[wamtazlady]

Having 2 flocks and 2 coops does not need to fail. My neighbors on either side of me also used to have chickens that free ranged all day along with mine. Being in the middle most of the time the flocks were all on my place. At night all the chickens went back to their own coops. My rooster tried and tried to get the one flock into our coop. It never worked. Once you get the new chickens you will have to keep them locked in the coop for several days. Then they should know where they are supposed to sleep.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have not ever done this, but I have read numerous posts, saying that the flock might split differently over time, as in each group rearranges themselves to fill the coops, not necessarily the way you started. And I do remember, that one said, they all piled into one coop, vastly overcrowded, and left the other empty. Chickens!

But I think it is more than doable.

Mrs K

 

[NatJ]

It might make integrating the new birds more peaceful, if they have their own coop.

 

[aart]

I have the room to divide the run so that each mini-flock can have their own house, but it seems like I'd short them space and variety in doing so.

Start with this, to 'home' the new birds to their coop and as a first step in integration.
Mae run division either easy to take down or, better yet, add a door you can open and close when/if needed.


Consider biological/medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article


Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have the room to divide the run so that each mini-flock can have their own house, but it seems like I'd short them space and variety in doing so.

I cannot tell you what will happen, with living animals and their behavior it just doesn't work that way. They might all crowd into one coop, they may stay separated the way you want them to, they may split up into different groups. There is one way to find out what will happen with yours.

My understanding is that you are only worried about where they sleep at night. You are not worried about keeping them separated for breeding and really don't care which coop they lay eggs in. You say you have enough run space to split it. So one suggestion is to put up a permanent fence across the run with a door in it so you can get back and forth. Or build a new run or expand what you have. Build your second coop and go through the integration. Be patient, do not hurry the integration. See what happens when you integrate. If they sleep apart, fine, leave that gate open. If you don't like where they are sleeping then leave that gate closed. Be prepared either way.

Alternatively, when you build the new coop make it big enough for all of them. Having an empty second coop often comes in handy for broody hens, integration, or to isolate an injured chicken.

 

[HollyWoozle]

We have what is essentially one long shed but with a partition wall in between to divide them and a door for each half. The shed is in our fenced orchard. When we last took on a group of six rescue hens, we started by keeping them shut in the side of the shed which doesn't have the main roost for the original flock, meaning they were completely segregated with their own perch. We kept them indoors for a while, since they had never been outside before, then made them a run to separate them from the rest of the flock but so they could see them and interact through the fence. Once the rescue hens gained strength, we simply took out the fencing of their separate run and they mingled in with the others without any problems.

The chickens always continued to separate themselves at bedtime, the original flock going into the main side and the others going into the side they were used to. This continued until we had only one of the rescue girls left, at which point I lifted her up one night when she had gone to roost and put her in the other side. From then on she always went to bed with the rest. In my experience, they will go to roost where they are most accustomed doing so, unless there is something wrong with it!

I should add that it was a few months before the two groups were mixed, since the rescues were quite weak and bald. We do also have a little cut-out in the partition wall which we can block and unblock, so once the flock was integrated we unblocked it and they could move between the sides of the shed freely.