Attaching a Sidecar Coop to Introduce New Chickens

Chicken owners are always talking about the mystery of chicken math... about how sooner or later, you'll want to add more chickens to your existing flock.

We began our chicken keeping journey with four six week old pullets, and several weeks later, we added two more. 

When you add new chickens to your flock, you can't simply toss them in with the others. The new chickens should be quarantined for a period of time-- I've heard anything from a couple of weeks to a month or more. It's important to keep the newbies separate so they don't transmit any illnesses to your existing flock. It is helpful, however, to allow the birds to see each other to get used to each other's presence. This will make the transition easier once they are finally allowed to meet face to face.

Another consideration to make, is to keep the new birds separate until they are of similar size to the existing flock. Adding younger, smaller birds will leave them vulnerable to the more mature chickens. 

Because our yard space is limited, I came up with the idea for the sidecar coop. I knew I wanted to expand the existing run, so I decided I would build a small addition that would temporarily function as a chicken run for the new chickens, and could be easily modified to become part of the existing run once the new girls were integrated.

I was lucky to come across a used prefab coop for free in a local online chicken keepers' group. Although these cheap coops don't usually function for the long-term, it worked out well as a temporary home for the two new chickens. 

I began construction by building a small frame out of 2x4s for the footprint of the addition, and covered the bottom with hardware cloth just as I did for the original run. 

Next, I added two 2x4s for the corner posts, and attached a piece of exterior grade plywood for the roof at a slight angle away from the run, to avoid any rainwater draining into the run. I attached the plywood to the existing run with L brackets screwed into the rails.

Once the plywood roof was secure, I cut a hole where the chickens' ladder would descend into the run. 

After that, I attached the coop to the plywood with a few L brackets. The prefab coop came with an attached run made of hardware cloth panels, and I used these to close in the walls of the new run area. I added hinges to one of the panels to allow access to the space.

When the sidecar was finished, it allowed the new chickens to live side-by-side with the existing flock, only kept separate by the hardware cloth. If I was concerned about lice or mites coming from the new birds, I might have quarantined the new girls farther away from the coop for a period of time before attaching the sidecar. However, the two new chickens came from the same local breeder not long after the original ones were purchased, so I decided to take my chances.

After a couple of weeks, the birds were used to each other's presence and I allowed them to free range together in the yard. There were normal pecking order fights, but nothing too brutal. They continued to sleep separately for a few more days until I was sure they would all get along. Once they were integrated, I removed the sidecar coop from the top of the plywood, and began the process of opening the lower section to the original run, and turning it into the new feeding area.

Before opening the hardware cloth between the two sections, I removed the dirt from the smaller run and filled over the hardware cloth with a couple of inches of concrete. This provided a flat surface for their feeders, and would certainly prevent any pests from burrowing in.

When the concrete was dry, I cut the rail on the original run that was separating the two spaces, and cut the hardware cloth down the center and folded it into the new space. This helped to seal any gaps at the corners of the run, and eliminated any sharp pieces that would have been exposed by simply cutting a square hole in the hardware cloth.

On top of the addition, I planned to add an herb garden in the spring. I patched the hole I had cut in the plywood, and added an edge with 1x4s to make a bed, leaving a small space for drainage. I covered the bed with poly sheeting to prevent the wood from rotting when the soil is added for planting. 

Finally, I added some sheets of clear corrugated plastic to keep the rain out, and placed their feeder and waterer on top of some bricks inside the new feeding area. 

I have found that keeping the food and water in their own separate space keeps the everything cleaner than it was when it was just placed in the run. With this setup, the chickens are less likely to perch onto the water dish, and it's easy to add more food and water through the access door behind it. 

*As with all of my projects, I am not a professional and you should not follow my posts for professional advice. Remember to always use all recommended safety equipment and make sure you understand the instructions for your tools before you operate them.*