Chicken flock management? 1 big coop vs 2 or 4 smaller ones

[roberthleeii]

Can I have multiple chicken coops on one property while free ranging them?
I was planning on building a large coop and run suitable for 30+ birds but then thought about doing something a little different and making 2-4 smaller coop/runs that can support 8-15 each. My chickens are mostly free range so when they are let out they would mix around the property. I was planning on keeping 1 rooster for every 7-8 hens. While not really saving any money smaller coops are going to be easier and quicker to build. I can also keep the smaller flocks for different groups of chickens.


Thanks in advance for any advice,


Robert

 

[aart]

Keeping the flocks from congregating into one coop might be an issue, or at least a management challenge while free ranging.......unless you only let one flock range at a time, alternating days.

I'd rather only tend to one coop rather than multiple coops.

 

[samanthaoverton]

The main thing people separate for is breeding but if they're already mingling then the point is moot. I have 3 areas I have to mess with currently and it is not fun. I like specifically fattening up a roo here and there and have 2 in there own area now. I also have a bully roo whom bullies my main roo so he is on his own..and soon I will be brooding. Multiple houses means multiple clean up and maintenance. If you are ok with that. Im honestly trying to be helpful..it can be time consuming.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Keeping the flocks from congregating into one coop might be an issue, or at least a management challenge while free ranging.......unless you only let one flock range at a time, alternating days.

I'd rather only tend to one coop rather than multiple coops.

X2
I have 2 coops. It's a PITA to maintain, tbh. I also have a duck house, but since they range with the chickens, they ended up just bunking with the chickens, leaving the duck house unused.

If you have them contained (fenced, penned, etc), multiple coops are fine, even if they are more work. But I have a feeling they'll just all go into one coop if they are free ranged.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

My main flocks free range, and yet I have no less than 9 coops. I use the coops for growing out artificially incubated chicks and keeping breeding groups separate from each other. If I wasn’t serious about breeding, I would only keep a couple of coops for growing out chicks then gardening inside of once I turned the chicks out to join the free rangers.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I have multiple coops. I don't find it too much work...but it's also my hobby. Keeps me happily busy with all the free time I now have with kids grown and hubby not yet retired.

I alternate which coop gets let out now. I keep multiple roos with each flock and they all get along fine within their flocks. But I had a little bantam kill another rooster two to three times his size once when two flocks were accidentally out at the same time. The bantam cornered the big gentle roo and pecked his head enough to kill him.

I haven't had multiple coops long enough to feel certain what's normal for them...but I won't let two coops out at once.

Editing to add that the two coops in the above are far apart. Half an acre between them so the birds were strangers to each other. If the coops are close, maybe the roos get comfortable with each other.

 

[Ridgerunner]

@Shadrach might have some experience with this. To me the key here is multiple roosters.

I can't give you any guarantees as to what behaviors chickens will choose. If they are free ranging they can do whatever they want. It is possible they will all want to use one or you may be able to train them to separate coops. Hens can choose whichever rooster they want to hang with. Roosters are not always loyal to their hens and hens are not always loyal to their roosters. If they are free ranging you don't know who will mate with whom.

You are talking about 4 or 5 roosters, that is different from 1 or none. If they are spread out enough I think it has a reasonable chance to work but you are not going not be able to micromanage them. It will involve more time and work than one coop but one coop may present a problem with multiple roosters.

 

[Yardmom]

I do free range 2 coops at the same time and my experience is not what others are theorizing. My purpose of two coops is to keep my Silkies away from my large fowl roosters. It is important to note that my coops are about 400 feet apart. Each flock has an established territory. I could show you the line between the two territories even though there is no physical marker. Even when the silkie flock started I did not see fights between the 2, but the actual coop space is not in an area the large foul went before the silkies were there. I have had one LF hen switch coops. She kept going into the silkie territory to hide eggs and ended up brooding by the silkie hens. I had one LF cockeral that was hatched in the Silkie coop take over the LF coop as flock master when my strongest LF roo was taken by a fox. I have successfully taken LF hens, after being hatched in the Silkie coop, and locked them in a cage for a few days in the LF coop They never try to return to the silkie coop. I think my success with this is because of the space each flock has.

 

[Perris]

Can I have multiple chicken coops on one property while free ranging them?

Hi Robert Yes you can. I do.

My chickens are mostly free range so when they are let out they would mix around the property.

I have one flock of about 20 chickens that free ranges at will dawn till dusk. The birds go to roost in one or another of 3 coops that are located close to one another (each bird makes their own choice, and over time it varies who roosts with whom, as Ridgerunner indicated). There is no run here, and the coops are mobile; they are moved regularly to prevent a build up of disease where they are sited.

I was planning on keeping 1 rooster for every 7-8 hens.

I have effectively 4 roos for 15 hens (the oldest roo has retired from all that) and they can and do roost together; you do not need one coop per rooster if they've grown up within the flock, as mine have.

I can also keep the smaller flocks for different groups of chickens.

That can be useful. Something temporary can serve if your need is only occasional.

 

[triciayoung]

I started with one pre-fab coop that was supposed to house 7-15 chickens. Upon finding out two of my 11 were roosters and realizing there is no way the pre-fab coop is going to house 9-hens; I made my second mistake - I bought another coop. And, not a mistake, we built a bachelor pad for the two roosters. Every night, they all wanted to go into one coop and I would physically have to take 4 from one into the other. I took the same 4 expecting that this habit would become a reality, but it didn't. A few weeks ago, I got rid of the two coops and converted a shed.