Housing on sloped land

[swatchick]

I built my chicken house and run on one of the very few flat spots on my land, which seemed like a brilliant idea t the time, but it turns out that it is also the wettest spot aside from the actual creeks. So, I am trying to come up with some ideas for building something more sustainable on the slopes (which range from moderate to steep).

What I'm really looking for here are pictures. If you built a house/run on a slope, I'd be ever so grateful if you'd share a photo or two! Thanks in advance!

 

[Dutch552]

We have very few flat spots on our land also. I will take some pictures tomorrow and post up how I elevated the coop floor off the ground to level it. It makes for a step up into the coop but it creates a nice, level, dry floor for you and your birds.

 

[shella]

i am also interested as my land is on a slop i have a coop at the bottom but thats where the water collects
so if anyone can us with pictures that would be great
sorry for hijacking your thread swatchick

 

[speckledhen]

We have very few level spots here, either. Here is the main coop, when we were adding 12' to it. That window became the doorway between the two sections. (we live on a small mtn, as you can tell from the drop-off).





(**Was going to link you to the pages of construction photos here of the original 8x8 coop, but seems the links are all messed up. Will ask Nifty what the heck happened. It's the Clutch Hutch in the Large Coops section.)

 

[HEChicken]

I love how you built it around the tree, Cynthia!

 

[speckledhen]

We just couldn't take down a big healthy oak if we didn't have to so we lost about 10 s.f. by jogging around the tree, but inside, it made two nice, deep alcoves. One has the two-over-two nest boxes and the other has a ladder roost, as you can see in the picture below.

 

[swatchick]

Thanks for the photos, speckledhen! How high above grade did you make it? Any problem with chickens or other critters going under it? That's one of the things I've trying to figure out -- a run on a slope, because where I'm at, without a predator proof run, the whole lot of them would probably be gone in about half an hour even during the daytime.

 

[GhostRider65]

You could always build them an underground shelter coop dug out at the near top of a steep hill, it would very warm in winter and cooler in teh summer.

 

[wava1vaughn]

Hi from Ga.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks for the photos, speckledhen! How high above grade did you make it? Any problem with chickens or other critters going under it? That's one of the things I've trying to figure out -- a run on a slope, because where I'm at, without a predator proof run, the whole lot of them would probably be gone in about half an hour even during the daytime.

The front was about 1 foot off the ground and I'm not sure about the back, maybe 2 feet. When you have a slope like that, you really need a good level. It will look weird to you, even appearing to be raised up at the back end-trick of the eye with the slope, but a level will insure you have a solid, level foundation.

Originally, the pen was in the front of the coop and now, it is a humongous one off the back down that slope because we ended up with many more chickens than the original 8x8 held (hence the addition). When the pen was off the front, we didn't have issues with critters underneath because it was a good bit off the ground--there was too much daylight under there for anything to really hide and when the girls free ranged, they went under there and flushed anything that might have wanted to be there. Now, of course, the girls themselves hang out under there all the time--nothing else has a chance, LOL.