Coop placement and safety of nearby callery pear?

[Campnellis]

Hello smart chicken people I have searched the forums and google for an answer but have been unable to find what I'm looking for.
Some background... (and we were recently gifted chickens that are awaiting pick up so we need a place for them asap).

We have owned this property for 2 years and are still working on clearing the space around the existing 50 yr old muscadines, scuppernogs, pear trees, peach trees, elderberries, and blackberries for our planned 1 acre garden. The arial photo is what it used to look like and what we'd like to get back to.
For now though...clearing the rest of the garden has to wait.

I would like to keep our new feathery friends closer to the house and garden, in between the first two rows of muscadines until we have more land cleared (about 2 years). It would be an 8x8 open air coop with a 12x20 hardware cloth enclosed run in case we go out of town. The muscadines could spread over it providing more shade and we plan on planting other treats for them (peas, cucumbers, more elderberries, etc). My only real concern is the tree pictured by the muscadines. It is a callery pear but has very few, wimpy thorns on it. It provides constant shade in the summer and in the winter it has lots of sunshine. I'm not sure if the tree and bberries are safe for them to be around though. Is it safe to place the coop and run there? They will be free ranging for the most part once they get settled except at night.

Sorry for the long winded post lol. Thanks in advance!

 

[sourland]

Good luck with your homesteading and property development. I think that the plans you outline are fine.

 

[Campnellis]

Good luck with your homesteading and property development. I think that the plans you outline are fine.

Thank you! Heading out to get started with 3 kids, 2 dogs, and cat in tow

 

[CluckerFamily]

I agree. The place you have planned is great!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My chickens love my native muscadine fruits, but the vines are suffering their predations just fine, and they do not seem to be eating enough, seasonally, to negatively impact their diets. That said, my muscadine are not in the run, simply available as they free range.

My birds ignore my pear trees entirely, peaches too - though those plants are very small.

Assuming you have some way of managing your muscadine by harvesting when they get so heavy laden they start volunteering fruits to the ground when ripe so your chickens don't completely throw off their diet, I think you will be fine.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Have fun and remember to take pictures!! I'm personally horrible at remembering to take pictures of events or the progress as the coop was being built.

 

[Campnellis]

My chickens love my native muscadine fruits, but the vines are suffering their predations just fine, and they do not seem to be eating enough, seasonally, to negatively impact their diets. That said, my muscadine are not in the run, simply available as they free range.

My birds ignore my pear trees entirely, peaches too - though those plants are very small.

Assuming you have some way of managing your muscadine by harvesting when they get so heavy laden they start volunteering fruits to the ground when ripe so your chickens don't completely throw off their diet, I think you will be fine.

Good to know! We have muscadines growing crazzzzyyy all over the property but there are several rows that were once cared for including these two. We did harvest a little over 30 5 gallon buckets from these two rows and the one along the driveway alone this year. They are incredibly prolific! I'm hoping the addition of other treats will encourage them to be diverse with their snacking lol.

 

[Campnellis]

Have fun and remember to take pictures!! I'm personally horrible at remembering to take pictures of events or the progress as the coop was being built.

My husband picks on me because of the amount of photos I take of random projects and plants because I don't have a social media platform to share them on

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Good to know! We have muscadines growing crazzzzyyy all over the property but there are several rows that were once cared for including these two. We did harvest a little over 30 5 gallon buckets from these two rows and the one along the driveway alone this year. They are incredibly prolific! I'm hoping the addition of other treats will encourage them to be diverse with their snacking lol.

Happy to help. and if I might offer one other piece of unrelated advice? This website has been spectacular for me in my journey of poultry ownership, and I hope it will be that way for you also. Some of our questions will have regional answers, based on climate, materials availability, etc. If you go into your profile (click on your User Name in the upper right, then Account Details, and scroll about half way down) you can identify your location with as much, or little, specificity as you would like. (such as my "N FL Panhandle")

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Campnellis]

Happy to help. and if I might offer one other piece of unrelated advice? This website has been spectacular for me in my journey of poultry ownership, and I hope it will be that way for you also. Some of our questions will have regional answers, based on climate, materials availability, etc. If you go into your profile (click on your User Name in the upper right, then Account Details, and scroll about half way down) you can identify your location with as much, or little, specificity as you would like. (such as my "N FL Panhandle")

Welcome to BYC!

Great, thank you!!