Coop too close to the house?

[CathyRose]

Hi everyone, I am so excited to be planning to have a few chickens at our home! Even though we have an acre, most of it is hilly or wooded. My husband is thinking of building the coop in the corner of our patio, right up against our house. I would make it so convenient for electricity, water, and so much easier for me to care for the chickens. Would we be crazy to do that? Will the smell make that a bad idea? We are planning on three hens for pets and eggs. I am retired so I could conceivably clean up after them every day. Opinions please!

Thanks in advance,
Cathy

 

[B'villechicken]

Sounds like a good idea to me. Go for it.

And (by the way) welcome to the forums

David

 

[countrylifelover85]

I don't think three hens will smell if you keep the coop clean. If you were getting a rooster that would be too close.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

My coop and run are next to the house - it works great for me. Easy access to running water, electricity, very short distance to shovel snow in the winter, I can hear and see what's going on, etc.

PS - If it smells, you have a problem.

 

[mtnhens4]

Great question! I too am a new chicken owner and was wondering if my coop was going to be too close to the house at 12 ft away. We have 4 chicks that are 3 wks old and I'm pretty confident that I can keep the coop clean enough to avoid any unpleasant smells. I was also thinking about planting honeysuckle near the run for a nice fragrance.

 

[Moabite]

My coop is 'bout 12 ft from the house and hasn't caused any concerns. Muffy the EE loves to sing about her eggs at 5:45 am, but another 50 ft wouldn't make any difference as far as hearing her goes.

Fire could be a concern if you were to run a heat lamp and instead of loosing all your chickens and coop, you could loose everything.

 

[Baymen Moe]

The one and only draw back of right against the house would be when your girls start singing the ole egg song. My coop is about 70ft away from the house and they drive my wife crazy sometimes, and that's even from inside the coop, which is also behind a fence. It doesn't bother me one bit though.

 

[elmo]

If you manage your coop properly, there will be no odor whatsoever. Having the coop close to the house will be convenient for the chicken keeper, and just think ...you'll be able to sit on your patio and watch your chickens! Life just doesn't get any better than that.

 

[Aunt_Nancy]

It's not the smell, it's the flies that would get to me. They tend to "hover" around. So I'm happy mine is about 50' from the house. Plus it makes it easier to compost the poop by the hen house. Have fun.

 

[spotstealer]

Great point, Moabite. That (fire risk) would be a my main concern. A suggestion I would have is to try a ceramic stlye heat lamp. Pet stores that cater to reptile type pets have them. They screw right into a regular incandesent bulb socket. If you punch in reptile ceramic heater, you'll see the type. These would be much safer than a regular style heat lamp.