Choosing the best location for a chicken coop is a crucial decision in starting chicken rearing. Of course, your chicken needs a safe and comfortable home where they can sleep and lay their eggs. This is where a big chicken coop comes in. Whether you build a chicken coop from scratch or assemble it from a kit, where you place it should be of great importance.

Finding a nice location for your chicken coop takes some work, but it’s not as difficult as you would imagine. Yes, buying or constructing a home for your hens is essential to their happiness, safety, and health, but with a little assistance, you may quickly start enjoying your new flock of chickens. So where in your backyard should you place a chicken coop? Let’s find out.

Requirements for a chicken coop

Sunlight

Chickens require both sunlight and shade. Like all living things, chickens benefit from some sun. They enjoy the comfort of the shade provided by their coop and sunbathing. They receive the sun adequately each day.

 Solid Base

If foxes are common in your area, you should build your coop on a sturdy, well-made platform to prevent foxes from digging into the coop. vinyl is a preferable material in this case.

A dusty patch for a bath

If your feathery companions spend some days wandering around fields, they will like a dust patch to bathe in. To aid in the removal of any unwelcome parasites, they can clean themselves in a dust bath.

A chicken run

A chicken run will be ideal for you if, like many people, you do not have a lot of ground to let the chickens run around. A chicken run is a long, rectangular area of the coop where your chickens may run about and get some exercise. Just enough space must be provided for them to leave the stuffy coop and breathe some fresh air; it need not be enormous.

Shade

If you can, put the coop under a tree. This has numerous positive effects. Your chicken will receive plenty of shade, and the tree will also benefit. The birds will fertilize the soil around the tree. Potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus are minerals found in chicken manure that improve the soil’s fertility and the health of plants.

Lighting and Heating

Some areas with colder climates will need to heat their coops and help prevent the freezing of their drinking water. Flat-panel heaters and heat lamps that are not hot to the touch are excellent choices. To produce eggs, chickens need about 16 hours of daylight; therefore, occasionally, artificial lighting will be required.

Things to pay attention to when choosing the location of your chicken coop

1. Distance to your house

Placing your big chicken coop closer to your home is a good idea. That’s for a good number of reasons, including:

Convenience

To let your hens in and out of their coop, feed them, and provide them with water, you must stop by at least twice a day. It just makes it easy for you if their house is nearby, especially in difficult weather.

Safety

To be able to keep an eye on things, it’s preferable to have your hens close by. Always keep your chickens’ safety at the forefront of your thoughts. Because your hens would undoubtedly make a lot of noise if a fox or raccoon prowls, you can hear when a predator is nearby.

Cleaning

Allowing room for cleaning is another reason to keep the chicken coop close to the home but unconnected. You should use a hose to thoroughly clean the building once a year or to occasionally hose it off. Spraying garbage onto your home is not something you want to do.

Electricity

It will be far less expensive and simpler to run electricity from your home to the chicken coop if you need it for heat.

2. Make sure that your chicken coop is placed on level ground.

When deciding whether to put your coop on level ground, there are two main variables to consider. The first, perhaps more obvious, is that it should be on a solid, somewhat flat surface. Everyone loses out when a coop is tilted, and you don’t want to wake up one morning to find your coop has begun to sink into quicksand.

The second is water drainage; building your coop on low ground risks creating a swamp,
especially if you reside in an unusually wet region. To keep your chickens high, healthy, and dry, try to find higher ground if possible. If necessary, you can also build drainage to your yard.

3. Allow enough foraging areas.

Chicken love to forage, regardless of how much you feed them, so situating their coop close to suitable foraging areas will help keep them occupied, active, and well-fed. Many plants can be found in good foraging locations, but none should be hazardous to your hens. A foraging area is useless if it blooms profusely in the spring but has nothing for your hens to eat in the winter. They also have a wide selection of plants that will prosper throughout the year.

 

4. The location should have both sun and shade.

Finding the ideal balance between sun and shade for your chicken coop might be challenging. If your chickens spend the hot summer months baking in the sun, they could suffer heat stroke. If they receive too much shade, they may have irregular sleeping habits and fail to release the hormones required for egg production.

Your chickens should be able to switch between light and shade in your coop and run to manage their body temperatures. If all else fails, err on the side of too much shade because it’s easier and healthier to warm up a coop than to let your flock suffer in the heat.

Wrapping it up

The location of a big chicken coop is not always the first consideration for novice chicken keepers when they begin preparing for a flock, but it is a crucial choice that will impact your chickens’ health and happiness for years. To raise happy, healthy chickens, you must locate your coop in the ideal location. Check out more blogs such as “chicken coop buying guide: things to consider” or “what is a chicken coop: everything you should know.”