coop close to house? on ground vs elevated?

[DavisCreek]

Hi Group,
I'm wresteling with ideas that i have no experience with..

.. I'm thinking of coop close to house, for convienience of power/lighting/heat/egg retrieval? any problems?

then, thinking a larger multi-use bldg with integrated coop & floor & chicken stuff storage, vs smaller elevated box (just minimal coop)?

moving items not a prob as i have a backhoe with forklift. (of course, i hope to not have to move anything, except to my new home in a couple years ;-)

Many Thanks

Pete

 

[7L Farm]

Its best to have the coop next to the house . You will be going to the coop alot getting eggs & checking on them every other second.LOL I have my coops on the ground . The ground here is like the beach.

 

[NottinghamChicks]

Quote:
Ok so in a couple of years you may move? Don't go big then. How many chickens and what type? Maybe a chicken tractor and you could move them where you want when you want. If you are northern with snow, I would go with a raised coop. Easier maintenance. Mine are 75 feet from my bedroom window. I will know if anything messes with them at night. Also easy to run an extension cord for the heated waterer in winter. One of my coops is only a coop with a run, the other is a converted shed that when you go in the door the grain is in cans on the rightside. The chickens are on the left raised up 3.5 ft so I have storage underneath them. There is a solid wall so no dust or shavings get on my side where I go in and store the food. I just open a door to clean them out and gather eggs and I am out of the weathe. Works real nice. They have a pop door that goes outside into their run, a window and a skylight! Bought it on Craigslist in perfect condition for $125 and just did a conversion.

I thought I was the the only one with yard machines, lol! It's so nice to have a Bobcat with forks and an excavator hanging around

 

[Weiden Farm]

close is nice - but what about noise and odor control

 

[purr]

our coop is 100 ft from the house , close enough to get to easily but far enough so that they don't wake us up too early and smell too bad
I have a 8 x 12 and it is elevated 18" off the ground , this keeps rodents from burrowing under it.And gives them additional shade for the summer.

 

[NottinghamChicks]

Quote:
Very minimal odor as I have a very thick sand base with excellent drainage plus I keep it real clean. Noise isn't an issue as it is outside my master bedroom so its always quiet when I am sleeping. I do like the fact that if anything disturbs them at night I am sure to hear it. I currently do not have a rooster but I have 6 fertile eggs under my broody and 10 straight run coming in a month, we'll see then how I feel

 

[DavisCreek]

Thanks All,
very good thoughts.. Placement is going to take some more thought ;-)
I went out to the yard to see what materials were available. ended up with this so far, from mostly reclaimed materials. 4x8x6h, 18" over the ground, its movable with the help of my equipment, big enough to store some chicken gear/move around inside, and small enough to keep warm. Big vent openings, of course the man door will be as tall as fits.. i will post some pics as it gets closer to "pretty" ;-)



I have a total of 13 birds, not sure how many male/female yet. I have 8 mutts (RIReds bred with barred rock and/or redsex bred with blue laced red wyndotte?) plus 5 tetra-tint "pullets" 3 weeks behind them.

 

[onthespot]

I think you should build it up against your kitchen, with rollaway nestboxes that have a little ramp that feeds into an egg rack on your kitchen counter.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I think it really depends on how many chickens you want to keep. If you are keeping four or five for your own eggs or if you are raising a couple of hundred for a business.

I personally want to raise about four or five different breeds in small partitions within my coop. My coop will be about twenty feet from the house. While its not portable like a tractor it could be taken down quite quickly and put back together someplace else. For me the Coop I build will be tall enough to walk in and everything would be on the same level. Having feed and equipment storage is also one of my needs. Oh and rodents will not be a problem because the coop will have bare dirt floors. Any mouse getting in there is fair game. I am also hoping to do a deep litter with Diatomaceous Earth mixed in for my coop so that the poo will dessicate before it becomes stinky.

All depends on finances at this point for me. right now I am getting the piers knocked out from under....

 

[DavisCreek]

Here is my start. Its mostly re-purposed materials, and im siding it with imperfects from my lumber mill. Big chicks are sleeping out in the "office trailer" with a heat lamp tonight, and the little tettras are still in the dining room. I cant wait to be complete, and enjoy watching all this hard work in its finished form.



Thanks for the considerations, as my project evolves.

Pete in Central Va.