Placement/Location

[Shylis]

We recently bought a 21 1/2 acre property and early next year we will be building our coop. There is an old, but still usable barn on the property, but nothing else, so the coop will be the first thing up. (We will be staying in an rv on loan from my parents, so the chickens wont be there by themselves.) My fiance is busy with work and he is a complete city boy (raised in St Louis), so he wont be much help with the planning. I am planning on my coop to be a stationary building with at least two runs (probably four) to rotate the chickens in. I am trying to decide where the best place to build the coop would be, based on the way the land is and with the weather, to give the best shelter to the runs as I can. I do not have a picture of the property, but I will be drawing out a map once I start going out more. I will post that once I have a rough sketch, but here is a description of it.

21 1/2 acres, little more than 16 acres native prarrie grass, little more than 5 acres trees. Short sides of property are East and West ("Front" and "Back"), long sides are on the North and South. There is a creek running the full north edge, and a creek running the front 2/3rds of the south side, a small pond near the southwest corner. Road access at the East/Front is the highest point, pretty level and the house will eventually sit there. Property slopes down slightly to a second flat area where the old barn sits. There is enough room on this flat for more. Then a slightly steeper hill takes you to a third flat area at the back of the property. Each level area is approximatly the same size, and I estimate them to be about 5 acres each, plenty of space to build. Oh yes, the majority of the trees are along the two creeks with an acre or two at the northeast corner. So most of the middle is treeless except for a couple big oaks.

How close to the house should the coop be? How far from trees? If near trees for wind break, what side should the trees be on? Any other tips or suggestions?

 

[ImpulsiveFarmer]

I would make sure the coop is well away from where you are building your house just so you don't have to work around it when building. I would keep the coop far away from the ponds and streams. Just for the sake of convenience if the barn is something you will be fixing up and using I would put it somewhere near the barn because you are likely to be storing feed and bedding in the barn. My previous coop was right under some trees which was great for shade in the summer and kept the worse of the snow off in the winter, but you do run the risk of tree branches falling on the coop if you live in an area that gets a lot of storms. If this is the case you can probably use the barn as a wind break.

Is the barn visible from where the house is going to be? You want to make sure you are able to keep an eye on the coop should you have trouble with foxes and such.

Sorry if I'm not much help, I leave the planning to my husband normally.

 

[SnowPeeOstrichU]

Agreed. Jealous of how much space you have!!!!!! I live within city limits and I don't think I have even an acre!

 

[Shylis]

The entire property can be seen from where we plan to build the house, except the thick of the trees up front. The barn just needs some boards hung back up and some old junk cleaned out of it. Im out here now (glad i have signal on my cell here) and its nice and dry inside. We will be replacing the corral and using it for the horses. There should be enough room on the other side for the size coop and runs im planning on. There is a big tree near by tho so ill have to watch it. We live in missouri and between wind, ice and thunder storms, im sure itll loose some branches. Im thinking mike will prefer to keep the gardens near the house and the animals down the hill a lil.

 

[ImpulsiveFarmer]

Sounds like a great property! I haven't even seen my new place yet. We only have 2 acres but the neighbor owns over a 100 acres all around us that he doesn't use and has already said we can use it to pasture our animals on. I think right now that my husband is planning on housing any chickens we get in the barns we have on the property. He still hasn't sent me pictures of the place, he says he wants it to be a surprise for when I get down there next week.

 

[Shylis]

It's a really awesome place. And we're buying from the owner, so no banks are involved. Its much simpler. Even tho only the chicken house and fixing the corral are going to be done by January/Febuary, I like to get a general idea of where I might put things. The only problem with the place (and it's only a problems because it involves a TON of walking) is that it is almost twice as long as it is wide. And since we're building the house on the front one-third, I don't want to build any barns on the back one-third. They would be 1000 feet or more from the house. But the perfect place for a goat pen is between the line where the 2nd third and the last thrid meet. So I'm trying to think what would be the best option hear, and I've about decided to make a big loop for chores. So I would leave the house, go to the milk cow, then the horses, then the chickens, then the goats, then the gardens and back to the house. No back tracking. I hate back tracking.

 

[J-Sanders]

Sorry, you will be backtracking for a while due to not having remembered all the stuff you need. Try to site your coop in a north south orientation or one that eliminates most of the drafts in the wind from getting into your coop. Depending upon your general wind direction having the roof line run along this axis so that you get natural ventilation. Ventilation and draftiness are not the same and drafts will make your birds sick. I like the loop idea as it is most economical on your labor and time. Congratulations on your property! Have fun. Jim

 

[jamband]

I would try to think more big picture before details......Have an idea of how it will all work together. Will you want chickens to til the garden? horse manure for garden? pasture the chickens behind cows? store tools in the coop? Just saying that big picture ideas could save you ALOT of money and time and aggravation. Wanting to move a building is a pain, even a chicken coop. With that much property and all those elements try to integrate it and work with you land. Not each thing needs to be seperate.


Just for example having chicken runs around gardens reduces bugs, running chickens behind cows reduces grubs, spreads manure, better maintains the pasture and animal health etc.
Your goats will eat everything so use them to clear areas for new plantings etc Setting up areas so the animals can access water for themselves saves you sooooo much labor.

anyway good luck