Size okay for 8 full-size chickens?

Example of slope... this is the side yard, but the back follows the same overall slope. It's hard to tell the slope in pictures of the back yard because there is nothing level to compare it with (like the house in this picture). Great for sledding, not so much for building, lol.


The slope in the back yard is almost level near the house, then slopes steeply to varying degrees, then levels out somewhat near the wood line... No building near the wood line though because there are wetlands and a small stream just inside the woods and it gets pretty soggy down in the bottom part of the yard (plus, it's that much closer to predators). We have almost an acre overall but the only flat-ish ground is in the front yard.

I just took these photos of the back yard...

Overall of the main part of the back yard, you can see a bit of the slope here, but there are also several 'ditches' running from the house down the slope and general uneven-ness that is hidden by the grass/weeds (until you twist your ankle on it, lol)


My plan at this point is the put the coop here near the house, in between the steps and the AC unit. It's flat enough that we can level the coop with some blocks, but then the run will have to extend out down the steeper part of the yard... and then there's that bush right in the way (surrounded by ditches and divets, hence the weed overgrowth.... can't get the mower through there very easily).

We may have been able to put it in front of the porch and had the run (or part of the run) under the porch, but I have corn and pumpkins growing there now. And the slope drops off pretty quick so the coop would need to be pretty close to the porch which wouldn't leave a whole lot of run space (but it would have been covered at least).

Then this is an overall of the yard looking the other direction, no neighbors on this side, just stream and woods. We don't mow the far side very often and there tends to be more wildlife over there because of the fruit trees and rock pile, and generally taller vegetation. The foreground of this photo is along the wood line where it is flatter, but also quite soggy and too close to the woods for something as tasty as chickens.


I first thought about putting the coop over here, right behind the rock pile. It is sloped, but more gentle and even than the rest of the back yard. It is farther from the house though and just inside the area that doesn't get mowed as often. More wildlife over here too.



I guess my biggest issue regarding the run is that all the pictures I see of other people's 'well-built' runs are on flat ground, they are built square/rectangular. That won't work here, so other than stringing up a cheap fence on some fence posts, I'm not really sure how to go about making a more significant run. Especially something that is not permanent and not really expensive since we'll likely be moving within a year or so, we are renters, and our budget is small.
 
I knew I'd seen a run on a slope somewhere, but it took me a while to remember the name:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/occupy-the-backyard

This was how they did the run on a slope:



I know this might be more of a build than you want to do right now, but maybe the way they did the bottom part could give you an idea for how to do yours? I just remember thinking this was a really clever way to deal with a slope problem, so I bookmarked it. Just had to find it again, lol!
 
I am raising 6 hens on nearly the same square footage.I probably wouldn't want any more in this space. One thing is I don't count the square footage in the coop but they spend a lot of time in there during the day.They get good airflow in there with the hot weather. I have good ventilation up high in the coop and the breeze comes in the door and out the top. They go in there and lounge around a few times a day. I can restrict these vents in the winter.So I could maybe add the 25 sq ft in the coop to the 75 in the run to justify more chickens but it would just be too crowded.
You could get just as much enjoyment from 6 as you would 9. Good luck oh one othe thing,chickens have a way of dying so you might end up with 6 anyway.
 
As far as your run goes, I would build it to include that bush, I have young chickens that free range during the day and their favorite spot to hang out is under bushes. Sink your uprights into the ground every 8 feet or so connect them with a horizontal rail that is level, you may need 2 rails depending on how tall you want your run to be ( the posts will not end up all being the same height, the ones close to the coop can be shorter then the far end, you can cut the top off the taller ones when you know how high your wire is going. you will want to bury your fencing at least several inches into the ground or create an apron with it. Run your fencing horizontal and just realize that close to the coop, there will be more of it that is either buried or aproned out, at the far end where the ground is lower, you won't have so much to put under ground. The top of the wire should end where the first rail is, that will be your attachment point. You will probably want to run a second line of fencing above the first and attach to the second rail. A door would be the trickiest part on sloping ground but certainly doable. I don,t know if this makes sense or not but if you can't. Free range, you will want as big a run as you can manage.
 
How about something like electric poultry netting? I've not used it myself, but folks that have the Premier brand seem to love it. It's flexible and could probably conform to your terrain better than a standard fence. Would keep dogs out better, also.
 
I knew I'd seen a run on a slope somewhere, but it took me a while to remember the name:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/occupy-the-backyard

This was how they did the run on a slope:



I know this might be more of a build than you want to do right now, but maybe the way they did the bottom part could give you an idea for how to do yours? I just remember thinking this was a really clever way to deal with a slope problem, so I bookmarked it. Just had to find it again, lol!
That's what I had in mind, too, @6of6chicks ! So glad you found it. Yes, in this picture you took:

LL

this, to me, is the perfect spot for your setup....what does the OP think?
 
That's what I had in mind, too, @6of6chicks ! So glad you found it. Yes, in this picture you took:

LL

this, to me, is the perfect spot for your setup....what does the OP think?
The nice, flatter spot in the foreground of this picture is right next to the wood line and gets really soggy because there are also wetlands and a stream just inside the wood line. Chickens here would make it a muddy, mucky mess (plus there's no buffer from woodland predators) :(
 

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