Housing on sloped land

[swatchick]

Our coop is 4x6 and the run is 15x6. Plenty of room for our 4-6 hens and VERY secure. My DH worked very hard on the dutch door and I love it, not easy with all of the funky angles. The run roof is Sun Tuf and smoke colored which helps to keep everything dry and offers some protection from the sun, when it's hot the girls all hang out under the coop.

, I love the dutch door, too! My girls are always trying to stampede out the door when I go to toss treats in so I've been using a short wire barrier inside the door, but my next design will definitely incorporate a dutch door on the run. Thanks!

 

[tdgill]

just wanted to add how happy I am to have a sloped yard. I have ducks as well as chickens and for the moment I am just dumping the kiddie pools (switching to bigger pool and better system this summer) and the slope takes care of all that water. No standing puddles etc. It's also great to be able to use one of those quick connect devices on my hose/faucet and when I'm done with the hose I can easily unhook it and pull it down the slope straight a bit and drain out the water so no frozen hose. I think under a coop is a great place for chickens to dust bathe and make use of cool shade too

 

[speckledhen]

There is a distinct advantage to living on the side of a mtn as far as drainage. Pens don't stay muddy for long, that's for sure, no standing lakes. Sometimes, I'd love to build on level ground-the bantam coop we did was on probably the most level ground available for a coop build and it was quite a bit easier, but we still used the trusty level for it, since there is still the slightest slope there.

One reason we moved the pen on the original coop after the addition to it from front to back was the earth-moving abilities of chickens. They'd scratch dirt down the slope and it would pile up against the front of the coop. What used to be a foot off the ground is now only maybe three inches. We had to remove some trim at the bottom of the coop because termites took hold behind that trim, with dirt and leaves a constant issue against the building. (hint: Orange Guard, natural insecticide sold by ACE, will kill termites, smells great and will not hurt chickens-trust me, we know from experience). I always said they were trying to bury the building and no amount of raking could keep it free of leaves and dirt for long.

Now, with the pen behind the coop, down the slope, leaves from the oak trees and dirt the girls scratch up pile against the fence, which is another issue, threatening to buckle the fence. We have a cable strung on turnbuckles from tree to tree, going through the top of the fence to hold it up. Eventually, we'll have to open the bottom of that fence and rake about 3' high piles of dirt and decaying leaves out of the pen and down the slope.

That huge pen behind the coop is about 2500 sf of pen space and they still decimate it!

 

[crazyhen]

I'd like to say do not ever build a tiered coop and add on up a hill. Please build it all the same level. I have bumped my head soooooooo many times on the door tops dropping down to the next coop level. I had never built anything before on a slope and, oh boy ,was it different. Now I would have built it all with tall door tops, tall everything for sure. Remember that chickens do scratch the soil from the low side of the hill under the coop. That will eventually upset the foundation post. Put something under there to keep them out if you have room.
I find my hens are much friendlier inside the coop so I like walk in coops better too. I pull up a small stool and can watch and feed a treat . They will then come right up to me, even the shyer ones. I get my pet fix and friendlier hens. win -win for us. Gloria Jean

 

[JackE]

My coop is built on a slope. The coop is up on concrete blocks. One thing, don't use a small level when setting up the base. Use one at least 4ft long, it will be easier and you will get better results.
Jack

 

[snooptwomey]

Moving march 1 to a new house, and its on a mountain side in the shenandoah mountains in Front Royal Virginia, so I am going to have to build my coop kinda in the woods, and on a decent slope. Should open up some creative ideas. I want to end up with enough room in my coop for up to 10 chickens, and then give them a good outside run area(maybe 50'by50' worth of wooded area) How big should I make the coop? I was originally wanting to build a 5' Wide x 5' Long x 6.5' tall or 6 x 6 x 6.5 with 3 nesting boxes. would both of these sizes be good? Look what I hatched out today My first hatch attempt ever, this little one hatched during the night last night, it was day 20 in the incubator, an EE , believe its a black/lavendur mix, came out black with a small amount of grey/lav on chest/lower neck, dark legs and feet

 

[joan1708]

I posted earlier about my concern that the back part of my sloped run was dangerous, too small and tight and too many sharp edges.
I don't want to fill it in because it could affect drainage in the rest of the yard. So I extended the top part out.

I added a fence pole to support it. I used cattle fence to frame it.

I put plastic hardware cloth over that and up the back wall for about 18 inches. This is to help hold in the litter and to get rid of gaps at the edges that beaks or toes could get stuck in. Then I put "rubberized pavers from home depot over that.

I put down cement pavers at the edge to cover the ends of the cattle panel. It's fairly sturdy. It will certainly hold the weight of 3 silkies and 5-6 inches of litter. I'll know in a couple months if it works or not.

Here is the coop and run. The slope down to the stockade fence is a little steeper than it looks in this picture.