Coop expansion…
I’ve expanded my coop one, two, three times ?
My recommendation to you is to just build your coop bigger than you ever think you’re going to need
Because chicken math is real!!!
You’re going to find chickens you want because the eggs are a different color ?
You’re going to find chickens you want because the chicken itself is pretty, really cool feather pattern ?
“I want this one and this one and this one and this one.”
Because chicken math is real ?
Just plan ahead for it instead of trying to say, “Yeah, it’s not going to happen to me,”
Because you never know ?
First, we built a brooder cage so we could raise our flock from chicks, then we built a 8ftx9ft coop which would be large enough for 4 hens. ?
Then I realized that as these four chickens got older, I didn’t have enough room in here to bring in another four to come behind them so that I could keep getting eggs, so we said, “Okay, let’s double it.”
Then the chicken math began!! 9+5-1=3 ?
A year later…
We expanded the coop to 8ftx19ft to accommodate 8 hens
We added onto the existing run and switched out the freestanding coop for a built-in coop
We even installed a bench for me so I could be comfortable spending time with them.
Something happened and we had to put two down
I don’t remember what happened, but we had to put two down
And we decided, or actually Gary decided, that wasn’t something he ever wanted to do again
I said, “Okay. If you don’t ever want to have to put another chicken down other than it getting ill, which you can’t help sometimes, then eight’s not enough, because if chickens only lay eggs three to five years, but they live closer to 10 to 15 years, then that’s not going to work. Eight’s not even going to be enough.”
(Remember, we got into raising our own hens because I need so many eggs for my diet. So running out of eggs isn’t an option for us.)
I did the math and I figured out that in order to stay in eggs all the time, so the chickens can just live out their life and then naturally die rather than us have to put them down to make room to get more, we would need to be able to house 30 chickens.
I figured out based on the number of square feet that your chickens need for a run…
And the number of square feet they need on roost bars…
And the number of square feet that they need in a coop …
That’s where the chicken mansion came in.
Another year passed and we were expanding again!!
The coop is now a 12ftx16ft building with an attached 18ftx16ft enclosed run
Inside the walk-in coop I have a storage area, a grow-out pen, several nest boxes and roost bars
This expansion now can comfortably accommodate up to 30 hens
We currently have 24 hens and I keep saying no more, haha (remember the chicken math??)
My recommendation to you is just to be real with yourself
Decide how many chickens you’re really going to end up with so that you don’t have to go through these remodels
Then double it!!! Maybe triple it!!! Hahaha (chicken math can come out of nowhere?)
The advantage of the remodel is I learned things along the way ??
I did figure out better ways that I wanted it designed and better features
Whether it was for them or for me
So it was good for that, but I don’t know, some of that I think you can figure out the first time
Or at least you don’t have to do as many remodels as I have
This current hen house has only one flaw that I see…
The storage room isn’t quite big enough
I love the storage room where it is, I love the layout that we’ve got
But it’s just not quite large enough
I didn’t realize that I was going to start buying things in bulk to save money
I didn’t really create the storage room big enough to have bulk deliveries and six bags of chicken feed at once
That’s my best advice to you…
If you’re just getting into chickens or if you’re planning on a remodel…
Just be real with yourself and know that chicken math is real
Try to just do the one remodel or build your coop the one time
Plan everything out so that you can make it the best hen house that you can design for yourself and your flock
Learn from my coop expansion lessons
For details on how much space you need for each chicken, see my post (https://www.betheorganicu.blog/henspace20181024)
Remember … Be The Organic U – Feed Your Soul
#BeTheOrganicU #organic #homestead #sustainability #agriculture #coops #farming #gardening #chickens #backyard #eggs #farmlife #homesteading #permaculture
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