Setting up the new coop

Hi all, I am setting up our new coop, I currently only have 7 girls but I have 12 in the incubator and two 8 week olds coming tomorrow, so I am trying to work out if the space they are in needs any improvement. I will post a few pics and would love any advice.

Hello - lovely to speak to you again! I only have two hens, so I'm not an expert on large numbers! I wonder if Ploshkin could help? Looking forward to seeing the pics.

Ploshkin may have something to add, BJM - I know she has chickens amongst other things.

Edit - Ha! Dandelion - we posted at exactly the same time.

Heh heh - now all we need is Ploshkin...

Thanks girls, I think I might charge my camera and do a video, so much I want to show and ask everyone!

Hi BJM, we've not met before, I'm a fellow poultry keeper.  I generally keep 15 - 20 chickens for eggs and I just love hatching, it's always so exciting.
What space do you have for your birds?  Do they need to be kept in a run or can they free range?

My birds are mainly in a 20' x 20' covered run with access to 2 houses.  I can keep it as one or split it into two.  The run is secure so if we go away the houses can be left open so that whoever is looking after things for us doesn't need to remember to shut the birds in at night.  It's covered because we live in a very wet & muddy place and also because I have often lost chickens to birds of prey. At the moment I can't let the birds out to free range, which I have always done before, as we have a dog that has killed chickens but I am thinking how to work round that.