Placement of coop around house--help please

[Feathered Landings]

Another idea is...what are your state and local laws reguarding chicken coops by property lines and in proximity to your home. Here in Wa it varies from 100ft from the house to 20-30ft from property lines. We got lucky with our coop. I wished I had checked the rules before we built, didn't even know it mattered, but now I do. I have seen bobcats and coyotes in our backyard, so because of that we built an attached run to the coop so they can still go out but be safe. I also plan on fencing in my garden with chicken wire so I can put them in there too, if I'm out side only though. We also, by mistake, bought a guinea fowl and from what I've read they make A LOT of noise if anything comes around. Kind of like the guard dogs of the coop. Hope this helps. We're still building too so it's an ongoing learning process for us too. You can look at my feathered landings blog to see pics of how we're building the coop to get ideas if you want.

 

[okiemommy]

A note about the swimming pool. Chickens drown because they can't swim. Is your pool above or in-ground? Above should be safe for the most part, unless you have bantams that can fly that high up.

 

[FaereChicken]

I felt reasonably secure letting the chickens free-range when we had the rooster. He was good protection, but I expected to lose some, and we did. Without the roo, the girls stay in their pen. They really miss running the yard, though.

 

[rhetoric]

I can improve this sage advice, sage though it be.

Which way does the wind blow?

Chickens aren't nearly as smelly as some might think, but neither are they a field of lilacs... so we deliberately put ours to the north and slightly east. Rarely, in the summer does the wind blow toward the house from that direction.

 

[tankernav1]

The pool is inground but there is a 4 foot high fence around it. We have a pond and lake too. Surely they know to stay away from the bodies of water. So if we put them out back, then that is directly west of the house. So if they smell then I guess it would smell by the house. Hhmmm... We need to put it in position here soon. Lots to think about.

 

[Puck-Puck]

To clarify, if someone can, please:
Regulations regarding distances from property lines and houses have been mentioned in this thread. Although I live in the boonies, this is basically a 50' wide town lot, surrounded by uninhabited houses. The lady before me had chickens, and I am bound and determined to, as well. I am not worried about the non-existent/once-a-year neighbours, who might be won over by a carton of fresh eggs anyhow, but is there a reason--other than an occasional whiff of chicken--not to have the coop handy to the house?

 

[tankernav1]

Yes, we've decided to put ours on the back of the house. Even though the coop will be very safe from predators---about $600 worth of safe materials--- we really are nervous our dogs will chase them to death. So at the back of our house there is an area that is surrounded by 3 walls of the house. The back garage door opens into it. We plan on placing the coop there---half built already so it will be a "bear" to move---and then just putting some chicken wire along to make the 4th side. That way, IF we decide to let them out of the coop they can come out while we are home, yet it is fine for them to be in the coop at all times too. The chicken wire run would just be to keep the dogs out. Hopefully this will work. I'm sure my husband only wants to move the coop once! I guess if some county person comes along we will have to move it. I can't think out here it will be a problem. Good luck to you too!

 

[grullablue]

People have mentioned zoning issues...which is good, because I went through a zoning nightmare with my coop last year. We had to be 100 feet from the road, 50 feet from lot lines, but an extra 10 feet beyond both of those, or we had to hire a surveyor out to prove we were 100 and/or 50 feet.

Just another thing to think about....we also have a pond on our property, and another issue we had is that we had to be 75 feet away from the pond (well, with the 10 feet to avoid hiring a surveyor, 85 feet). So you might want to look into that as well. Maybe where you decided to put it is not near the pond anyway....

Yet where I live, we could have put the coop right up next to the house if we wanted to! Go figure.... but the distance from water was I believe because of runoff...groundwater issues or something like that....I dunno. But, unless it's one of those little "fake" ponds, that you put in with the hard plastic liner, that wouldn't count. If a natural pond, you might need to look into setbacks for that as well.

Seriously, we had a nightmare last year. I'm amazed we were able to put our coop anywhere....

Angie

 

[Judy]

A 4' fence will not keep chickens out of the pool or off the neighbor's property. I predict you will be building fences soon. idk whether chickens are bright enough to stay out of water, but they could get frightened by something and wind up in the pool.

 

[okiemommy]

The pool is inground but there is a 4 foot high fence around it. We have a pond and lake too. Surely they know to stay away from the bodies of water. So if we put them out back, then that is directly west of the house. So if they smell then I guess it would smell by the house. Hhmmm... We need to put it in position here soon. Lots to think about.

No, they are not always bright enough to stay out of the water.

Also as ddawn mentioned something could spook them and send them over that fence..easily.

Also Chicken Wire is not dog proof. Chicken wire is not any kind of predator proof. It's only good for keeping chickens in, and not for keeping anything out. Do a search on hardware cloth and you will find some good info on how to build your run with that.

I free range, and I have a rooster also. Our rooster fought off a hawk just a couple of months ago. The hen still died, because the hawk got to it before the rooster did, but he put up one heck of a fight with it. And he's a bantam cochin

If you want to free range expect some loss. Some people lose their whole flock and some lose only one or two every once in a while. Some only lose a few in their entire time keeping chickens. It just depends on so many factors. If you wan to free range, build yourself a good run, out of half inch or quarter inch hardware cloth and keep them in the run until you can be out with them. Still, a hawk may be hungry enough that he might try to get a smaller chicken even with you there.​