We will be taking in two additional family chickens since work is taking their current family out of state. I hope the new hens, who are about the same age as our hens, but a different breed, will be able to join the flock with few ruffled feathers, but to start, we will keep them in a separate area. The easiest way to accomplish this was to get or build a smaller coop in the current run. I have doors lined with chicken wire to separate the areas, and both flocks have plenty of outside space. I did not have time to build a small hutch from scratch, so I ordered one on Amazon for about $150.

It was not a beginner build project, but I’m not a beginner, so it worked out. The wood is thin, but solid, not particle board. The directions were sparse, but my eldest and I were able to get through it. We built it on the back porch where we had a stable flat surface, then carried it to the run. The roost bar was a joke; a 3/4 inch dowel two inches from the bottom of the hutch. I found a 2 inch cedar branch and cut it to length and secured it with screws higher in the hutch.

When we went to install the hinged roof of the nest boxes, there was a significant gap that made attaching difficult, so we cut a section of scrap trim (from the garage) to fit before attaching the hinges.

We placed the hutch in the most shaded part of the runs. The run itself is entirely encased in hardware cloth and I have not had significant animal incursion in the five years it has been standing. We did make sure it was out of reach of questing raccoon hands. We’ll have a chance to see how it weathers storms this week.