Hi, I'm very new to owning chickens! I don't even know anyone that owns chickens. I will be getting my chickens from a grain & feed store and I already know they will be a wealth of information. However, they are a long distance from me and I can not drive any longer :( When I found this site I decided to check out the coop pages and started reading the information. I look forward to having chicken friends that will be able to assist me with those questions that all new chicken owners need.

I am in the process of picking a design for my coop, I believe I have decided on the design. Now to choose the location. We live on a main road in our city which is also a Route that is heavily traveled. But we have 4.5 acres of land (a rarity in our area). There are three main sections to our yard: the first, what we call our backyard, then divided by a shed, fruit trees, compost pit and hedges is our out back this area has a small green house, a small field which will have a vegetable garden, then we have the forest area which have some nice walking paths. I would like to put the chicken in the out back but I'm afraid of preditors (hawks, owls, cyoties, bobcat etc.). I would like to let them roam during the days, my dogs will keep them safe during this time.

Any help in this decision?