How close to the house to put the 3 chicken coop and run?

[New2Peeps]

I am trying to decide where to locate my small coop and 4x8 run which will be home to only 3 or 4 hens. I have several spots available and can't decide which is best.

If the run and coop is cleaned weekly is there much odor? I don't want to put it 20 feet from the house and then have to move the whole set up due to stinkiness!

 

[BlackSilkey]

Weekly mosts people only clean it 3 times a year and use DE to keep it low odor.

 

[Chirpy]

I use the deep litter method (DLM) and have no smell. I only cleaned it out once this last year.

Now, I live in a dry climate with very low humidity and I'm sure that makes a big difference on the potential smell.

I would say that you want to put it where you can see it best from your house. I find I spend lots of 'window gazing' time, just watching from the house to see what my girls are doing. Plus, I can keep a watch for potential problems (predators) since I can see it from the house and to make sure my own puppies aren't running around the fence to stress my chickens.

If you can put it down wind from your house to begin with. That will help any future smell issues. Of course, if you have close neighbors you need to consider the location of their houses to your chicken coop.

 

[Dawn419]

All three of our Bantam coops are within 10' - 20' of our mobile home. We use the deep litter method and food grade diatomaceous earth and we haven't had an issue with smell at all.

Hope this helps!


Dawn

 

[kevin2010]

you also half to think that the chicken feed will draw rats and mice in so dont put it too close

 

[McGoo]

the way I see it, 'cleaning' a coop is a relative term. I 'clean' out the poop under the roost once or twice a week...and scrape off any excess poop from roosts, etc. I also mix up the shavings (deep litter method), and add a little to freshen up. That's a weekly thing. The yearly cleaning is taking out all the litter and scraping and cleaning it out.

I don't think there's a whole lot of stink, but I don't feel that would be my determining factor on where I'd place the coop.
I would be more inclined to decide based on shade, wind, and the like. Is this a coop that is moveable? If so, you might find a good shady spot for hot summertime and then move it to a sunnier spot come winter. Also choosing a 'down-wind' location would keep any possible smell away from the house. Truth is that 3 chickens aren't gonna smell very much at all.

All the best with your chickens.

 

[New2Peeps]

Thanks for all the info--I think I am going to put the little coop and run about 20 feet from the house where I can see it from the kitchen window. It has sun in the morning, lots of shade in the afternoon and is in a relatively sheltered space.

The little coop itself will be cleaned once a week I am sure as I am building it with a linoleum floor. The run was what I had questions about--

Do you use the "deep litter" method with the run as well? I had planned to put either peat moss or wood shavings/chips down when the grass is gone and then use lime in the area as well. Then when I clean it out I will have some nice compost material I hope.

These little chicks will hopefully be able to be out of the pen a few hours a day as well.