Where to put the coop?

[LittleMissCountry]

So our chicks are 8 weeks old.
We are trying to find a permanent spot for the coop. It is a prefab coop, built for 8 to 10 chickens. We have four, since we read that they need more room than the prefab ones usually say they can hold. We also have a portable run for them.
We are allowed to have chickens and a coop, but our HOA says that it must not be visible from the road. Because of the curve of our road, you can see our entire back yard. The yard slopes as well.
The pictures below show our options. Option 1 we would have to plant some shrubs around the coop and hope no one complains until it is hidden.
Option 2 would make it barely visible if someone was really looking, but the coop would be in a stand of trees right next to the driveway. (Yard slopes sharply so you wouldn't see it until you pulled into our driveway.
Option 3 is in a clearing behind the tree line, but about 100 yards from the house which would make it more vulnerable to predators, (and the neighbors dog shown in the picture) We are planning to reinforce the coop and put steel edging about a foot down into the ground from the sides of the coop.
What would you recommend?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Are you allowed to put up some semi solid fence panels to hide it and provide wind breaks? Just an idea.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Option 2 would make it barely visible if someone was really looking, but the coop would be in a stand of trees right next to the driveway. (Yard slopes sharply so you wouldn't see it until you pulled into our driveway.

seems most usable less likely to cause problems make a frame to shield in front

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Are you allowed to put up some semi solid fence panels to hide it and provide wind breaks? Just an idea.

Nope, we are not allowed to build any kind of fencing unless we get approval, and from what our neighbors tell us, the board doesn't approve much. We can plant hedges and such. Thanks for the idea, though. I need all the ideas I can get.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Option 2 would make it barely visible if someone was really looking, but the coop would be in a stand of trees right next to the driveway. (Yard slopes sharply so you wouldn't see it until you pulled into our driveway.

seems most usable less likely to cause problems make a frame to shield in front

This is what we are leaning towards, at least temporarily until we can grow more trees and bushes to shield the backyard. We can't build a frame for the front, though. No construction unless approved by the board. It is frustrating because the agreement we signed indicated that we could do with our backyard as we pleased as long as it was aesthetically pleasing, which is one reason we bought a prefab coop that matched the design of the house, but we found out that the board's idea of aesthetically pleasing means nothing visible but plants.
If we go with this option, I am thinking of putting the coop in with the run side facing out and planting some grape vine or a flowering chicken-safe vine to grow around it to help hide it.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Just wanted to add that we are new to chicken keeping so even though I have been researching, I know some of you will have better advice about coop locations and come up with things I didn't even think of or know about. So if you see pros and cons with the different location options, please share them. Right now the coop is under the back porch, since they only sleep in it and are in the portable run during the day. We would like to move it next weekend.

 

[dunnmom]

Are you planning to free range them at all? I believe that trees are a good thing to have over a coop in the summer, especially if they will be penned all day. Also can provide some cover when it rains to help keep things a little drier. Just my opinion. I would say Option 2 would likely be safest for your chickens with the information you provided.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Are you planning to free range them at all? I believe that trees are a good thing to have over a coop in the summer, especially if they will be penned all day. Also can provide some cover when it rains to help keep things a little drier. Just my opinion. I would say Option 2 would likely be safest for your chickens with the information you provided.

Good thought with the summer, because it gets hot here and the trees would provide shade. We can't free range much, because there are no fences, and although we have 6 acres, it is mostly wooded and behind the house. Our neighbors on both sides have dogs. One has an invisible fence but the other doesn't.
We do have a large portable run (chicken tractor of sorts) that they will be in whenever I am home. I let them out to free range while I am outside working in the garden or can just sit with them. So they won't be put up all the time.

 

[SavKel&RynKel]

Option 2.

 

[kklowell]

Sounds like option2 is best.
I'm amazed that you have six acres and still have an HOA. Those things are EVIL.