Coop placement

[Bruins]

I have 2 areas that I could possible place my coop . I plan on having 3-5 brahma .

1. would be out in the yard 50 or more feet away from the house . It is a treed area which will be mostly shaded , a little sun breaks through the branches and leaves . I would have to roof the run since we have hawks and owls in the area .

2. under my deck which is attached to the house . I have 2 walls of the house that create an "L" shape , the deck is a rectangle which covers this area . There is a set of stairs leading down to the ground . This area would be totally roofed with the deck , I already have poles to attach the hardware cloth and I could even build the coop in the area under the stairs ( which is on the end of the deck and open to the air / yard). They would also have a larger run than if I put it in the yard .

What I worry about is if there is enough ventilation if I put the run under the deck and the coop under the stairs . Would it really make a difference in the ventilation of the coop & run if 2 sides of the run are cement walls ( house foundation) ? I know it would help in the winter but I worry about less air flow in the summer .

 

[tracecom]

Personally, I would not want chickens under the deck. I would be concerned about noise, odor, and mess. For the chickens' sake, I would be concerned about dampness, too little light, and too little ventilation.

But then, I would also want my coop more than 50 feet from the house, if possible. Just one guy's opinion.

 

[Bruins]

I forgot to mention that my deck is 12 ft off the ground . and is 15 ft wide and 25 ft long .

 

[enola]

If you are going to put your coop under the deck, you might want to consider not putting the hens on the ground. That dirt will get really nasty unless you put really deep bedding under the hens. If I was going to do this, I think I would put a raised floor under the hens.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I guess it depends on whether you want chickens that close to your house or not. If you just have the three hens that is probably not a big deal though it can get noisy when they start laying. Smell won't be an issue if it's kept clean. If your deck is on the north side of your house then they probably aren't going to get enough sun living under there and I'd also be concerned about dampness. Otherwise, if the area gets some direct sunlight every day it might be ok. Can you post a pic?

My two chicken coops are about 50 feet from the house, maybe a little more, and I like that arrangement.

 

[Bruins]

The ground under the deck is slightly sloped and has a 4-5 inch layer of gravel , I am planning on using sand for my run so I would put a few inches of sand on the ground in the run on top of the gravel and have an elevated coop .

Out in the yard I have weird dirt , kind of like peat moss more than dirt . So that would also have a thick layer of sand in the run with an elevated coop..

 

[Bruins]

This is the yard . The coop would be near the larger tree on the left of the picture , that way it's at least 50 ft from both property lines .In the summer this is all shade .

Under the deck . The deck faces west , In the summer we do get sun on the side under the stairs but underneath in the front only gets sun the first foot or two.

 

[aart]

Might need some shade cloth if facing west.....I would worry about air flow too, depends on your prevailing winds.