Coop close to Playstructure

[Cawe04]

We live in a small city on the East Coast and are new to chicken farming. We are trying to decide where in our yard to locate our coop. The most ideal place is quite close and slightly uphill to the children's play structure/ sandbox, but I am worried about run off from the coop/ run contaminating the area where the kids spend a lot of time crawling around. Are my concerns justified??

Thanks

 

[patandchickens]

It depends so much on your soil and slope and lawn and so forth.

If you are concerned, may I suggest digging a mild swale (shallow, turf-lined ditch) to intercept any runoff from the chickens and direct it elsewhere; and/or put a full roof on the run (although, ka-ching!) to minimize the am't of washing-through that goes on.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat