Hi Everyone, soon to be first time chicken owners. We will have 5 black australorp, 5 barred rock, and 5 easter eggers (wife insisted on having multicolored eggs) as well as a barred rock rooster arriving this spring!
I have gotten some good feedback here that has reassured me using one of the stalls in our old barn for a coop is a decent idea. But now I am having a tough time deciding what the best location for the run is. I am anticipating a future flock size of up to 25 so I'd like a 250sqft run. We hope to be able to free range as much as possible but we have frequent predator activity so the option to leave them in a run at times seems best. I am mostly concerned with sun and wind exposure. We are in Central Illinois with cold winters and hot summers. Winds are predominantly from the south in the summer and from the southwest to northwest in the winter.
Option 1 (yellow) is on the north side of the barn. The barn would cast shade over almost the entire run all year and the coop itself would get little to no sunlight. The ground here is a bit of a muddy mess. This side also faces the road but is enclosed in a fence. When we free range they would be able to access this entire paddock up to a creek and could probably fly over the 4' fence onto the road if they really wanted to.
Option 2 (red) is on the south side of the barn. It would receive full sun all day all year. a south facing window would let sunlight into the coop. When free ranging they would be restricted to the barnyard with no shade unless I leave the barnyard gate open to give them access to a large paddock with lots of shade.
Option 3 (orange) would just convert the lean-to shelter on the west side of the barn into a run. This would be by far the cheapest and easiest option but I don't know if that would be suitable for them. It would also restrict me from using it for anything else in the future.
What option would you say is best? Is it better to have them suffer full sun in the summer or be in the shade all winter?
I have gotten some good feedback here that has reassured me using one of the stalls in our old barn for a coop is a decent idea. But now I am having a tough time deciding what the best location for the run is. I am anticipating a future flock size of up to 25 so I'd like a 250sqft run. We hope to be able to free range as much as possible but we have frequent predator activity so the option to leave them in a run at times seems best. I am mostly concerned with sun and wind exposure. We are in Central Illinois with cold winters and hot summers. Winds are predominantly from the south in the summer and from the southwest to northwest in the winter.
Option 1 (yellow) is on the north side of the barn. The barn would cast shade over almost the entire run all year and the coop itself would get little to no sunlight. The ground here is a bit of a muddy mess. This side also faces the road but is enclosed in a fence. When we free range they would be able to access this entire paddock up to a creek and could probably fly over the 4' fence onto the road if they really wanted to.
Option 2 (red) is on the south side of the barn. It would receive full sun all day all year. a south facing window would let sunlight into the coop. When free ranging they would be restricted to the barnyard with no shade unless I leave the barnyard gate open to give them access to a large paddock with lots of shade.
Option 3 (orange) would just convert the lean-to shelter on the west side of the barn into a run. This would be by far the cheapest and easiest option but I don't know if that would be suitable for them. It would also restrict me from using it for anything else in the future.
What option would you say is best? Is it better to have them suffer full sun in the summer or be in the shade all winter?
![Screenshot 2024-02-14 162403.png Screenshot 2024-02-14 162403.png](https://www.backyardchickens.com/data/attachments/3710/3710942-7ef0fb03c4175079265a264a4c4386bf.jpg)