Custom coop/yard

[Nematocyst]

When I split up from my ex, I sold the house and had to give up my chickens (though they went to lovely people - a young couple that did the yard maintenance for my neighbors.) I'm in the process of buying another house now, after 18 months of apartment living, and guess who's getting new chickens!

Because my oldest son has special needs, any place I buy I'm going to need to secure the yard with new fencing, possibly large hedges (my favourite place right now has huge 10'+ hedges in the back, I would put some fencing along the bottom to make it secure.) While in the past I had an Eglu cube, which I loved, I'm thinking I might get the fencing/deck guys to build a coop at the same time. What I loved about the eglu was the ease in cleaning it, but I might want to build some sort of fancy coop that coordinates with the house to look more "finished."

My question is: if you were basically doing a yard redesign and putting in a garden and chickens, what sort of layout considerations would you have? My city allows 4 chickens, but I'll probably go over that. This is ok, provided the neighbors don't complain, so hedges would really help with noise reduction/privacy. Any suggestions on minimizing noise, maximizing garden space and overall aesthetics? I want a yard that my sons can play in, that I'm happy relaxing in, and that I can have a decent garden.

 

[Alaskan]

The coop pages have loads of inspiration.

Other than that, I think a very cute paint job makes a world of difference.

For more detailed input, I would need to know what sort of climate you live in.

 

[Nematocyst]

I'm in the PNW. So rain rain rain all winter. My main concern would be what is the best way to soundproof a yard (as much as you can soundproof an open air space.) Do hedges generally work the best? I'm also curious about what layouts worked best for people. I would like a large garden as well, but I might need to fence it in a bit so that if I'm letting the chickens free range in the yard, they can't get into the garden when it's full of seedlings, etc. I also might add a small greenhouse if I have the room.

 

[chicken-herder]

I also live in an area where the winters are really wet! I recently built my own coop and a word of advice from a carpenter friend was very helpful. If you are building or for that matter buying a wooden coop make sure it has brass screws so they don't rust and ruin your coop! As to the noise aspect hedges are a good idea! Have fun with your soon to be new home - exciting! :yiipchick