Where to place your chicken Coop

Before you begin building your own chicken coop, you have to select a good location on where to place your chicken coop, are you going to put it in your backyard. You don’t want to start building your chicken coop only to realize it’s in a bad place or doesn’t fit were you want it too. Deciding where to build your chicken coop is a very important decision and isn’t something that should be rushed.

Identifying the best location for your chicken coop is very crucial in order for you to be pleased with it for years to come.  You have to consider various different angles because the placing of the chicken coop impacts many other things. Including the number of eggs your chickens will lay.

Finding that perfect spot for your chicken coop will help to ensure that your coop lasts for many years to come!

The Right Location for your chicken Coop

Things to consider:

There are several things you need to consider before building. First you’ll need a flat area for the coop to stand on; you wouldn’t want your home on a slant. Things like that will drive your chickens crazy and you don’t want crazy chickens. You don’t want any trees near your coop either. These trees could fall on your chicken coop that would be a bad day. Trees could also provide a way for animals to get over your fence and into your chicken coop. While having shade for your chickens may sound like a good idea, the chance that it could allow a wild animal into your coop is too risky. Besides you’re going to need that sunlight for you chickens to lay eggs.

Protection

You need to think about protecting your chickens from predatory animals. The closer you can place your chicken coop to where you are going to be, the easier it will be for you to keep an eye on it. If you have areas of your property that encounters animals on a regular basis, placing your coop as far away from those areas would be a smartest move.

Room

Make sure you give your hens enough room! You will not get the results you desire if your hens don’t have enough space. You don’t want your chickens feeling cooped-up.

You will need to allocate around 1.5 to 2 square feet per hen inside the coop and around 8 to 10 square feet in the outside area.

Climate

Climate is another factor to consider when deciding where to build your chicken coop. Do you live in a very hot area? Do you get whole lot of rain regularly? If so, you may consider building your chicken coop higher off the ground or in an area that is more protected by an overhang. This will protect your coop by reducing the amount of rain or sunlight that hits the chicken house.

In the case of a lot of rain, you’ll want to position your chicken coop away from any area of your property where water frequently gathers. You don’t want to drown your chickens!

You hear that wind blowing out side, “not good”. If it gets very windy where you live, you have another reason to build your chicken coop close to other buildings. Having your chicken coop close to other buildings can help shield the chickens from the wind. While it’s very true that you want good ventilation in your coop, you do not want gusts of wind blasting it either.

Sunlight

That’s right; your chickens will require a good amount of natural sunlight in order to lay their eggs effectively. That’s why shade isn’t too big a deal when building a chicken coop. Chickens need that sunlight, just not to the point where they start cooking. If possible, try building the coop so that one side faces the sunlight and one faces the shade.

Keeping all these factors in mind as you decide exactly where to build your chicken coop will help in making sure your coop lasts.