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.