Coop Location
Where Should You Place Your Chicken Coop?
The topic here is a very important one that you must pay attention to because like the others, it will have a direct influence over how many eggs your chickens lay and therefore, how happy you are overall with the results of your chicken coop.
This topic is where you should be placing your chicken coop. Selecting the perfect spot on your yard to place your chicken coop will be important so that you’re happy with it for years to come. Consider it from a variety of angles because many things are going to be impacted by where the coop is located.
Here are just a few to consider.
Protection
First up you should think about predatory animals. The page on chicken protection covers a much greater depth, so you may want to go back and read that now. In your chicken coop plans, one of the most important factors when build your chicken coop is chicken protection. Basically, the general idea is that the closer you can place your chicken coop to where you are going to be, the easier it will be to keep an eye on the chicken coop.
Also, if you happen to have a very large farm, you may only have certain areas of your yard that encounter animals, so choosing to place the coop as far away from that would be a very smart move.
Climate
Another factor that needs to be considered with the location of your chicken coop is the climate. Do you live in a very hot area? Or do you get a lot of rain regularly? If you get rain frequently, you may consider building the chicken coop in an area that is more protected by nearby trees, helping to reduce the amount of direct rain that hits the house.
Also, if you do get a lot of rain, you’ll want to build the coop away from an area of the yard where water typically runs to since if that happens, you’re likely to have a flood chicken coop on your hands.
Finally, if it gets very windy where you live, this is another reason to consider building the chicken coop in an area that’s near a decent amount of trees or other buildings to help shield the chickens from the wind. While you do definitely want good ventilation in the coop, you don’t want gusts of wind on a regular basis.
Sunlight
Finally, since your chickens are going to really require a good amount of natural sunlight in order to lay eggs effectively, try and build your chicken coop in an area that’s well lit and faces the sun. You want to always maximize this otherwise you’ll have to run electrical light to the chicken coop which can become a very costly venture over time.
So, keep these factors in mind as you go about deciding exactly where to place your chicken coop. If you do, you’ll be happy with it for the long term and you’ll definitely notice a big difference in the amount of fresh eggs you get daily.
