I positioned the extension so that it shares a partial wire wall with the original coop so that everyone can be introduced without any problems. Later the chicks will move in with the big girls but in the meantime this will be a great grow out pen. We decided to go with a more permanent structure as we plan to hatch many more times in the future. This coop extension is basically just a smaller version of the big coop, minus the nesting boxes which your chicks should not have access to when first introduced into a new home. Chicks have a tendency to try to hide when introduced to a new home due to stress. Nesting boxes make a great place to hide. The problem with this, is that they will continue to sleep there which will mean lots of chicken poop in the nesting boxes which is not good. Because this was a coop extension that fit my needs specifically I did not do this as a DIY write up but rather to show everyone what worked for me to inspire their own imaginations. Using my Tips for Working with Pallets post you can build a pallet coop or coop extension of your own. As always, feel free to contact us with any questions you might have. Have a great day and God bless!
The Coop Addition!
Our planning for chicks was a little lacking…..I had a plan but no back up plan and so now we are getting by until I can expand the coop. If you’ve been reading through the blog you know we hatched chicks this year but out of impatience we did not stagger our hatching very well and so we have four chicks that are 5 weeks old and have moved outside now that outside temps are warm enough. However, my original plan to use a large dog kennel inside the coop did not work out too well when the cage would not fit through the door of the coop. So I built a temporary pen and got to work constructing a coop extension.