How close is too close to house?

[EarthMuffinTop]

First time chicken mama here! We are building an 8x4 coop for our 6 little ladies, with room to expand in the future. My question is, how close is too close to your house. My yard is large and fenced in but it has a lot of uneven ground. Next to our carport is the most level place and I was thinking of keeping the coop there. Will it be too stinky that close? TIA!

 

[citymeetscountry]

I think the stink factor will be based on how often you clean it as well. I would be more concerned about noise than stink personally, but you’re going to hear them regardless. I like hearing ours do their egg song but for others it could be problematic.

 

[DobieLover]

Will it be too stinky that close?

If you properly design and maintain it, it shouldn't stink at all.
That means never over populating it (keeping the number of birds per sq feet in the coop/run setup to no more than 1 bird/15 sq feet of space), keeping everything DRY and very well ventilated and removing the poop load from the coop often.

I recommend the use of poop boards in the coop that are cleaned daily. I scoop the boards every day into an old 40# cat litter bucket with a closing lid. I then compost it and use the compost in my veggie and landscape beds.

Now the compost bins should FAR from your house. Nothing will clear your sinuses faster than a freshly dumped bucket of chicken poop. I sometimes dump a bucket of fine saw dust over the fresh load and that helps a lot but you can smell it for a day or two after dumping.

As for the run, put a solid roof over it with extended over hangs to protect it from getting too wet. Use a thick layer of wood chips in the run to cold compost the poop load. And make SURE that the entire coop/run setup is on high ground so you never have standing water anywhere in the structure.

 

[EarthMuffinTop]

I think the stink factor will be based on how often you clean it as well. I would be more concerned about noise than stink personally, but you’re going to hear them regardless. I like hearing ours do their egg song but for others it could be problematic.

Personally I love chicken sounds. My neighbors have chickens already and I love listening to them.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Zoning code may be an issue. Other than that it's as stated above- water in run will cause foul odor. Concentrated run will require liter and dry conditions.

 

[EarthMuffinTop]

If you properly design and maintain it, it shouldn't stink at all.
That means never over populating it (keeping the number of birds per sq feet in the coop/run setup to no more than 1 bird/15 sq feet of space), keeping everything DRY and very well ventilated and removing the poop load from the coop often.

I recommend the use of poop boards in the coop that are cleaned daily. I scoop the boards every day into an old 40# cat litter bucket with a closing lid. I then compost it and use the compost in my veggie and landscape beds.

Now the compost bins should FAR from your house. Nothing will clear your sinuses faster than a freshly dumped bucket of chicken poop. I sometimes dump a bucket of fine saw dust over the fresh load and that helps a lot but you can smell it for a day or two after dumping.

As for the run, put a solid roof over it with extended over hangs to protect it from getting too wet. Use a thick layer of wood chips in the run to cold compost the poop load. And make SURE that the entire coop/run setup is on high ground so you never have standing water anywhere in the structure.

I have a garden on the back side of my carport and because it’s already fenced, I planned on using that as a run bc I wanted to do raised bed gardening further out this year. I do plan on covering part of that as well. They should have plenty of space as it is about a 15x12 area. But I also plan to free range inside our entire fenced back yard.

 

[EarthMuffinTop]

Zoning code may be an issue. Other than that it's as stated above- water in run will cause foul odor. Concentrated run will require liter and dry conditions.

Zoning here isn’t a problem. It just has to be 15 ft from any neighboring properties which it will be.

 

[drycreek]

Ours is 10 feet from the back corner of the house and we have had no smell. With the new coop I clean the poop boards daily and have a covered first run 13x15 that gets treated with non-hydrated lime. The second run has an open roof 13x35 (covered with wire) and I’ve never treated it with lime and still have no smell. The coop and runs are against my neighbors fence and approximately 20 feet from their house and they have said that they have never smelled it at all. 21 birds all total for about two years. No zoning where we are and no property set backs.

 

[EarthMuffinTop]

Ours is 10 feet from the back corner of the house and we have had no smell. With the new coop I clean the poop boards daily and have a covered first run 13x15 that gets treated with non-hydrated lime. The second run has an open roof 13x35 (covered with wire) and I’ve never treated it with lime and still have no smell. The coop and runs are against my neighbors fence and approximately 20 feet from their house and they have said that they have never smelled it at all. 21 birds in total for about two years. No zoning where we are and no property set backs.

 

[EarthMuffinTop]

Ok! My old timer nosy neighbor from up the street said not to put it that close to the house bc of the smell but he definitely doesn’t clean his run/coop like I will…I’m a little obsessive when it comes to cleaning!