How close is your coop to your house?

kirkmcquest · #1 02/12/11, 08:00 AM

I am trying to figure out how far out to out my coop. The further out...the less I hear them or smell them, but the less likely I will be alerted if a predator gets in and hassles them.

I have flood lights on the house that extend the light a good 50/60 feet in either direction...but beyond that they will be in the dark. Recommendations?

Our Little Farm · #2 02/12/11, 08:03 AM

Ours is about 350 feet away. I hear them just fine in the morning and also when a possum got in once.

If it were me, I would prefer them further away than 50ft, and make the coop predator proof.

Our Little Farm · #3 02/12/11, 08:04 AM

Whereabouts is your water source? Think about toting water in the winter etc. Feed. What would make it easier?

kirkmcquest · #4 02/12/11, 08:12 AM

Water is all near the house...not counting a couple of creeks...so through winter at least I will be toting water, etc..not a big deal to me. If I made a little bridge across the creek I could take a direct path, which would be easier in the snow. I'm more concerned with predators which are plentiful around here.

I guess if my coop is built 'predator proof' that ought to be enough?

Wisconsin Ann · #5 02/12/11, 08:17 AM

Our nearest coop is, oh, 50yards. We haul water to them 2x a week. (propane heated tank waterers) that's PLENTY close to hear them.

Our Little Farm · #6 02/12/11, 08:47 AM

Are you going to free range?

mekasmom · #7 02/12/11, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirkmcquest

I am trying to figure out how far out to out my coop. The further out...the less I hear them or smell them, but the less likely I will be alerted if a predator gets in and hassles them.

I have flood lights on the house that extend the light a good 50/60 feet in either direction...but beyond that they will be in the dark. Recommendations?

Mines about 30-40ft away from the back door.

Uncle JD · #8 02/12/11, 09:42 AM

About 25 yards from the back door of our house. Short enough to run an extension cord for heat and light and far enough that we don't usualy get a whiff of the waste, (cleaned every Yom rishon, (Sunday)). It works well for us. Our Rooster, Money Mike, wakes us up every day. We love em!!!

Blessings,

jd

MO_cows · #9 02/12/11, 11:18 AM

150 feet, give or take.

ChristopherReed · #10 02/12/11, 11:36 AM

Mine stay close to the house in movable shelters, but free range all over the yard. I had all of them down in the barn about 300 feet away, and suffered major losses last year. About 100 in a week. I killed 8 possums, 6 coons, and a cat, in that week. Prior to then we hadnt lost 1. I just have a hard time keeping the guineas out of the street now.

Firefly · #11 02/12/11, 11:43 AM

Mine's about 70' away. If I could I'd have it attached to the house with an enclosed breezeway. The old setup was usually with barn attached to the house. How I would appreciate that in winter and during rainstorms!! Smell isn't an issue with deep bedding, just add more when it starts to smell and clean out once or twice a year. (Honest, this works!) The key is to make your coop absolutely predator proof by having no gaps between boards and covering all vents and windows with heavy duty 1/2" hardware cloth. Attach it with washers and screws, not staples, or use strips of wood; a strong raccoon could rip it right out if stapled. We found that washers were ridiculously expensive, so we save all our beer bottle caps and use those! Pennies work too. A sheetrock screw will go right through them with a power drill. Also one year I had rats chew through where the walls meet the floors, so this year we installed metal roofing down the walls to the ground. If anything ever gets in there I will be very shocked. Recently there were coyote tracks up to the window, and it stood up and looked in which probably freaked everyone out, but that's as far as it got. Hearing the birds being attacked really doesn't do much good unless you have a gun and shoot from the house. You can't get out there fast enough to prevent serious damage. (Ask me how I know.

) Besides, they make all sorts of noise during the night, much of which can sound like distress but isn't, and running out at 3am gets old very fast.

cjb · #12 02/12/11, 03:55 PM

Ours is about 150' away and we hear them just fine if disturbed. We have some small trees and shrubs between the coop and the house too. Altogether, we hear them fine but have never gotten a gust of coop smell at the house.

However, we can smell the cow all day.

COSunflower · #13 02/12/11, 04:33 PM

Mine is close to the house - probably 50 - 70 ft from my deck. I use the deep bedding on dirt and have for YEARS - no smell! For real!!! I can hear them just fine but I enjoy the sound. My goats are out in the same area. No smell there either. I use the same deep bedding (composting bedding) in their shelters.

Uncle JD · #14 02/12/11, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by COSunflower

Mine is close to the house - probably 50 - 70 ft from my deck. I use the deep bedding on dirt and have for YEARS - no smell! For real!!! I can hear them just fine but I enjoy the sound. My goats are out in the same area. No smell there either. I use the same deep bedding (composting bedding) in their shelters.

shalom,

I like that. I use fresh dirt after cleaning out my chicken run too.

Blessings,

jd