Where should my goats/chicken be located?

GoatChickenMama

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Hi there,

I'm determining the location of my chicken/goat enclosed run and I see two locations which I'm trying to decide between. The first location is probably 150-200 ft from the house, however about 1/2 of the run will be shaded because of nearby trees. The second location is about 25 ft from the side of the house, still more like 65 from the front door. It gets a lot of sun almost all the time. Our climate here is sunny, snowy (up to 3 ft) or rainy.

I'm concerned about the shady area that it won't dry out as well, or give the animals enough sun. I'm concerned at the closer location that it will be too smelly that close to the house, however it does seem somewhat convenient and the entire run would be visible from by bedroom window.

I would love to hear some voices of experience on this issue. Thanks.
 

luvmypets

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I would think you would want the shade for the summertime as the animals will need to escape from the heat.
 

Latestarter

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But of course you can always put up shade for them. Considering you'll be visiting them 2-3 times a day most every day, I'd want the "housing" relatively close and then the pasture area for them to spend the day in, perhaps farther away. Keeping goats with chickens, you'll want to be careful about the chicken feed. Goats will eat all they can get and too much could cause bloat issues. And you know, they WILL find a way to get to it if it's even remotely possible :eek: (Like Nigies squeezing through pop doors and such).
 

Wispy55

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We started out with our chicken run fairly close to the house because we have several feet of snow to shovel pathways thru in the winter. But we didn't realize how much noise hens actually make. I would use both. Further away with some shade for the summer when they will spend more time outside and closer and smaller for winter.
 

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