How to Position Your Backyard Chicken Coop

The topic of where to put your backyard chicken coop is extremely important to its long term success. This is because the location of the coop will have a major impact on how many eggs your chickens will be able to lay. To make sure you are satisfied with the results, you’ll want to position the coop in an ideal location so that your chickens will produce the maximum number of eggs.

Before you set up your chicken coop, you’ll want to make sure to consider things carefully. Choosing the right spot in your yard is essential to the success of your chicken coop. Plus, a backyard chicken coop is a long term investment. This is why it makes sense to do things the right way from the beginning, so that you will be satisfied with it for years to come.

You should consider the following factors:

Protection

This first thing you will want to think about is protecting your chickens from predators that can decimate their population. The best way to do this is to locate the chicken coop as close to your living quarters as possible. This way you will be able to keep an eye out for trouble.

Another thing to remember is that if you have big farm, certain areas may routinely harbor animals that could threaten your coop. Be sure to keep the coop far away from these areas. The more distance you place between your chickens and potential predators, the better.

Climate

Another thing to pay attention to when positioning your chicken coop is the weather. Does is rain a lot where you live? Or is it hot much of the time? If so, considering positioning the chicken coop beneath a dense trees that can provide much needed shade in hot weather, and will also protect the coop from being rained upon directly.

If your area tends to get a lot of rain, you should also make sure to construct the coop away from areas where water tends to pool. Otherwise, you may be dealing with a flooded chicken coop.

If your area is prone to strong winds, it’s best to build a chicken coop near trees or buildings that can shield the coop. Remember that the chicken coop needs to be well ventilated, but it should not be routinely exposed to strong gusts of wind.

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.

Make sure to take all of these factors into account before making a final decision on where to build your chicken coop. Planning ahead is essential so that you’ll be happy with your chicken coop long-term, and this will also help you maximize the amount of fresh eggs that your chickens will provide.