design question, coop at top of slope or at bottom of slope?

[bbriggs1961]

with help from here ive decided on site, now should coop be at bottom of slope or at top of slope?should run go uphill or downhill? and what is best sand to use? thanks!

 

[crazyhen]

Run should go downhill. If the run is above the coop soil washes down and gets deeper until it goes in coop. So does water. It will smell terrible. I made that mistake once. Now my run is downhill from the coop. I like that much better. Gloria Jean

 

[7L Farm]

Free sand of course. Yes use sand you can use construction sand.

 

[GoldDogsMom]

the key word is drainage so top of slope for coop with run running downhill and sand is the way to go! Post some pics so we can watch your progress!

 

[bobbieschicks]

My run is slightly sloped towards the coop but I also have an elevated coop - 18" off the ground in the front and 24" in the back. If your design is like mine, I would recommend you not slope it towards the coop because everything will accumulate under the coop and it will be a pain to clean out. My chicks drag stuff under the coop and rain washes stuff under there too. If you use sand - I use it - it will make clean up easier as you can rake the sand and poop will disappear into the sand. You can pick up the big pieces if you want - I do that - and put them on the compost pile. But having the slope towards the coop has been a challenge in that I am constantly putting more sand in front of the coop because it's washing into the gully under the coop when it rains. Also don't use playsand - use construction sand. I'm using playsand because the kids have a sandbox they haven't used in years and I'm using that up first. It washes away easily - but the construction sand will hold it's shape and stay put better. I'm using construction sand inside in the manure box - makes my daily scooping of the poop easy.

 

[bbriggs1961]

Thanks for your response. Ive got site picked out and now I have orientation of coop decided. My plan is to have about 6 hens and I think a 4x6 coop will work. I plan on getting foundation started soon. I plan on using cinder blocks. Will have to do some digging to get coop area level. Do I ned 4x4 posts for corners or will a couple 2x4 put together be strong enough support? I will have many questions as I go I'm sure. thanks for input. I 'm now going out to try to find some of that free sand!