Space between well and coop

[HowIsItDone]

Hi everyone,

I have a shallow well, and my township recommends that I place the coop (that I'm going to build) 100' away.

What are your thoughts? What distance is safe? Would 75' be okay? Even less?

I plan on no more than 5-6 chickens. Coop and run will be 6' X 10-12'.

How close is your well?

 

[Jimmy W]

They are probably concerned due to E-Coli getting in your well water.

 

[HowIsItDone]

They are probably concerned due to E-Coli getting in your well water.

They are probably concerned due to E-Coli getting in your well water.

I think so, but is 100' really necessary?

I'd love to find out that 50' would be okay.

 

[aart]

I think so, but is 100' really necessary?

I'd love to find out that 50' would be okay.

I'd bet that if you were putting in a new well that 100' would be 'rule'.

 

[SourRoses]

What does 100' look like?


I'm not sure if we've had them further than 50' from the well at any of the places we've lived. But my foot guessing is without a frame of reference. Especially not football references.

 

[Penpal]

If it is a recommendation, then it is a suggestion and you can put the chickens closer. It might be a good idea to search for shallow wells and find how deep the e-coli and other baddies would actually manage to go.

 

[Jimmy W]

I think so, but is 100' really necessary?

I'd love to find out that 50' would be okay.

My guess is that they are saying 100' to be safe, more so for their protection than yours. I say this because if it were truly 100' in the ordinance, they would have said it MUST be 100' from the well. Check the ordinance of the place you live.

Then if you decide to put the coop closer to the well, and get e-coli, you will need to bleach the well regularly. I used to test annually for E-Coli when I had a well and small farm. The well was about 200' from the buildings the animals were housed in, and there was no pasture near the well. Had goats, Pigs, Chickens and Ducks.

I did get e-coli positive once. Me and the family were alot younger back then and I do not recall getting sick.

Good luck whichever you decide. Hope this helps.

 

[HowIsItDone]

What does 100' look like?


I'm not sure if we've had them further than 50' from the well at any of the places we've lived. But my foot guessing is without a frame of reference. Especially not football references.

12" equals 1 foot.
Did I say it wrong?
I'm Canadian. Forgive me.

 

[HowIsItDone]

If it is a recommendation, then it is a suggestion and you can put the chickens closer. It might be a good idea to search for shallow wells and find how deep the e-coli and other baddies would actually manage to go.

I'm new to this house and property. I plan to get a well guy over to look at the well-system, and put a proper well cap on it soon.

I bought a fancy new heavy duty measuring tape today, to see how close my two preferred areas are to the well.

I agree about suggestions made by bureaucrats. They "read it somewhere".

 

[HowIsItDone]

My guess is that they are saying 100' to be safe, more so for their protection than yours. I say this because if it were truly 100' in the ordinance, they would have said it MUST be 100' from the well. Check the ordinance of the place you live.

Then if you decide to put the coop closer to the well, and get e-coli, you will need to bleach the well regularly. I used to test annually for E-Coli when I had a well and small farm. The well was about 200' from the buildings the animals were housed in, and there was no pasture near the well. Had goats, Pigs, Chickens and Ducks.

I did get e-coli positive once. Me and the family were alot younger back then and I do not recall getting sick.

Good luck whichever you decide. Hope this helps.

You're right! I looked it up again, and the minimum is 15 Meters. 50' feet.
100' was a suggestion.

Thanks for your help.