Situating coop in relation to house

[Grammahen]

I let them out after I get home from work. We have sooooo many hawks though, I am greatly torn about what I should do. I try to stay outside while they are out.

 

[Gwen]

I'm going to let mine out once they're moved up closer to the house. We'll see what happens with the birds. I'm willing to lose one to see what happens. I hate to see anything caged 24/7. I'm also going to start looking at guardian dogs in case I ever get to the stage where I have the big coop I want with chickens free ranging in the woods all day! But for now I'm satisfied with my decision on which coop and where to put it, and believe me this decision has been a looooooong time coming!

 

[SimplyForties]

I think you made a good choice, only time will tell. If it ends up being too hard to move the coop back and forth you can always fall back to making a second one.

Lucky you to live on Whidbey Island!

 

[Sammimom]

My coop and run are only 30 feet from the house, completely covered (so no rain, we're in W. WA too) with a sand run. No odor, but ony three hens and no roos either. I'm really happy with the set up so close. It is a pain just to go one acre away and feed my feral cat behind the shop in his safe place.

 

[tragic59]

One thing to consider, that I hadn't seen mentioned yet is zoning codes.

I have no idea if you are subject to any, being on 3 acres, I would assume you are in a rural area of the county...

But, I am on 1 acre, right at the city limits and there are limits to how close my chicken coop can be to a door/window of my own residence. Also limits on how close it can be to my side & back property lines, which are different than how close it can be to my front property line...

Might be something to look into before commiting to a particular location.