Location location?

[jennyp0208]

My husband has nearly finished our coop/run and we've come to the critical decision - where in the yard to place it? There's 3 decent locations (we live in town, our yard is fairly small):

Full sun along the north fence

Full shade along the garage (blocked by the garage in the AM and neighbor's trees in the PM)

Morning sun, afternoon shade along the west fence. My hesitation is it would be right next to our alley. We're getting a 6' privacy fence installed, but there's still garbage trucks, cars, and some walkers down the alley.

They'll be allowed out when my daughter and I are back there, probably 2-4hr in the summer. I'm probably terribly overthinking this. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

 

[HomesteadDebi]

My hubby and I are having the same problem. We have a few areas our coop would have access to water and electricity easily. They would have sun at different times. Bad thing is those areas are not close to our house. I don't want the girls to be so far away. lol

I'm sure you will get some great advice here! Good luck

 

[QuietPony]

I am going to situate my coop so that the side with the biggest window faces south, so that get get more light in the long dark winter months. I figure partial shade would be good to for the long hot summer months so they will get that too. This is my first flock ever and I know it will be a trial and error thing. Good luck.

 

[akb77]

If I HAD to pick, I'd choose the shade. You don't want your girls to be in the sun in the summer months, and in the winter (assuming you live in a climate that has season changes) your neighbors trees won't be shading and a little sun will be good. Besides, they'll be getting indirect light. Good luck with your decision!!!

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't know if chickens are the same as parrots in this, but to keep cockatiels healthy they need to have access to sunshine regularly but can't be left in direct sun all the time or you can end up with cooked bird. So I keep the cage in front of a window with a partial cover that provides a shady area.

I'm setting my own up for morning sunshine and shade in the heat of day. Especially since heat is such a major issue where I live in the steamy southeast.

 

[jennyp0208]

Thank you! I think we'll start by the garage and see how they do; adjusting in the fall if we need

Appreciate the help!

 

[aart]

Would depend on what climate you live in. Maybe coop in the shade and run in the sun with shade available if needed.

 

[jstlitlome]

This is a good question for me too. I had a spot picked out but now I think I'll have to move it since it is a full sun spot? The only problem is that to move it to partial shade will need to be closer to our woods. I've seen a fox out there twice this week! Is morning shade and afternoon sun ok if I have a south window?

 

[Mtn Laurel]

We're building a new coop now and have positioned it at the edge of the woods in our backyard. In the summer, it will get some morning sun via the yard side but will be shaded most of the day. When the leaves fall from the trees, there will be plenty of sun and light.

We're in Virginia and the girls suffered tremendously with the heat wave last year. I was putting up tarps for shade and adding fan's to the coop. I hope that having the coop in the shade will make it a bit more bearable for them.

 

[jennyp0208]

Would depend on what climate you live in. Maybe coop in the shade and run in the sun with shade available if needed.

The coop and run are one unit so that's not really a choice. It would be the best though! Maybe once we move. It's a 4x10 run with an elevated coop under the same roof. Central IL so all kind of weather imaginable.