How level does the ground need to be?

[NatJ]

Here's the coop and run, I'll get pictures of the area in a few minutes. The ground is crazy hard to dig in.... rocks and TREE ROOTS!

I'm in central CT so hot summers, cold winters, average rainfall. We have woods behind the chainlink fence so there's wildlife back there. It's not a lot of wooded area but enough that we've heard coyotes/fox and saw a coyote walking down the street in front of the house last week, so they're around. I have 3 dogs which will keep them away during the day, but once we're all in bed I'm afraid the animals will be making their rounds.View attachment 3847310

Instead of trying to level the whole area, you can probably make the run fence be level by digging a bit of a trench in the high areas, so the sides sit down into the dirt a little bit in places. You might be able to do the same thing around the edges of the coop, although I might worry about the wood rotting. Maybe put the coop on the spot that is closest to level so you don't have to do as much to it.

The concern is that if the ground is slightly higher on one side than the other there will be gaps under the fencing. Does it really need to be perfectly flat, or can I fill any gaps or holes with rocks or hardware cloth or other obstructions? I'm off to stare closely at others' photos and set ups but hoping we can ease up a bit on the "perfection" part of the leveling.
Sue

If you attach a hardware cloth "apron" to the bottom of the fence and coop all around, and lay that apron outward over the ground, that may deal with the gaps well enough. You do want the hardware cloth to lay flat enough that no predator can easily scoot under the edge of it and crawl in, but staking it down along the outermost edges would probably take care of that.

You could dump some dirt onto the low areas, and then put the hardware cloth apron over top of that. That would make it not look so much like it has a gap.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

I'd suggest taking a look at @Rancid Crbtree 's build.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-coop-design-and-build-blog.1612130/page-5

You'll find a similar style run as what you have that got completely overhauled into a more solid structure. That's more than most people would try to take on, but perhaps with your son's help this may give him some ideas.

I bring this up because ventilation is really important. And, if that run were more solid, you could open up the front high side of that coop to greatly improve the ventilation.

Wow, that's a serious coop and run.... what lucky chicks!!!!
Sue

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

I have this same coop, it has pros and cons of course. I have the coop and run pretty level and as I said we filled in the gaps with wood. Our predator issues have been with hawks and eagles so we haven't had to reinforce the actual coop in any way. You will most likely get water that makes it from the back of the roof into the nesting boxes, the bottom of the leftmost besting box rotted out so we had to replace that. I don't use the feed storage so I wish I had not put that bottom partition in, it would have left them a bigger shade and wind break area. I made an addition on it with an opening to the bottom so it acts as more ventilation as well.

Here is mine with the expansion, I made it myself, and I'm not a carpenter

View attachment 3847607

Nice job - looks great! Definitely need to add another layer of roof shingles to the coop and have him install enough overhang to avoid drips into the coop. I'm sure I will have quite a "Wish List" of mods by next spring after living with the coop and run for a year..... hopefully any "learn from my mistakes" issues will only cause inconvenience to me and NOT any discomfort to the chickens.
Sue

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Instead of trying to level the whole area, you can probably make the run fence be level by digging a bit of a trench in the high areas, so the sides sit down into the dirt a little bit in places. You might be able to do the same thing around the edges of the coop, although I might worry about the wood rotting. Maybe put the coop on the spot that is closest to level so you don't have to do as much to it.


If you attach a hardware cloth "apron" to the bottom of the fence and coop all around, and lay that apron outward over the ground, that may deal with the gaps well enough. You do want the hardware cloth to lay flat enough that no predator can easily scoot under the edge of it and crawl in, but staking it down along the outermost edges would probably take care of that.

You could dump some dirt onto the low areas, and then put the hardware cloth apron over top of that. That would make it not look so much like it has a gap.

I love those ideas - thank you!!!!!
Sue

 

[perkolator]

If you're using pre-fab items like the pictured coop and run, it's probably easiest to level out using supports underneath the framing - such as cement blocks or PT lumber/rail ties, etc. and then using your hardware cloth skirting/lower wall protection to fill in any gaps. The ground inside will mostly level out with chicken activity and any bedding materials you add, such as wood chips or leaves, etc.

My setup is on sloped terrain but I went DIY with all the components - the coop got terraced on cinder block foundation, and the 2nd run I just visually leveled out the fencing lines and adjusted the bottom against the ground. My ground is sloped enough I've added a few log dams/weirs to help keep all the bedding from migrating to the low-side

 

[Papabear54]

We will soon be assembling the coop and run and my husband's obsession and concern is with getting the land perfectl flat before we begin. It's just a slight incline, hardly noticeable, but since we're both OCD about that type of thing, he's thinking of spending a day digging up the higher area and putting the dirt on the slightly lower area. Even considered borrowing a friend's backhoe which I REALLY don't think is necessary (it will delay this project by weeks).

The concern is that if the ground is slightly higher on one side than the other there will be gaps under the fencing. Does it really need to be perfectly flat, or can I fill any gaps or holes with rocks or hardware cloth or other obstructions? I'm off to stare closely at others' photos and set ups but hoping we can ease up a bit on the "perfection" part of the leveling.
Sue

You can fill the gaps with just about any yard junk - wire stapled to a rail and covered with rocks works good. I avoid even treated lumber except for roof and wall work. It’s a lot more expensive, plus some birds will peck at the wood and treated lumber is full of chemicals. Lot of folks will say this isn’t a worry, but to me anything not natural is not allowed in my chicken yard. Also, don’t over-engineer the ground. Slightly sloped is best to prevent your run from turning into a mud hole. If the ground in the run is grassy, the birds will eat the grass and roots, so the entire area will get lower after a few months with no grass, tending to hold rain. So uneven is best, especially if you have a high spot that’s easy to trench.

 

[Donna Rodriguez]

We will soon be assembling the coop and run and my husband's obsession and concern is with getting the land perfectl flat before we begin. It's just a slight incline, hardly noticeable, but since we're both OCD about that type of thing, he's thinking of spending a day digging up the higher area and putting the dirt on the slightly lower area. Even considered borrowing a friend's backhoe which I REALLY don't think is necessary (it will delay this project by weeks).

The concern is that if the ground is slightly higher on one side than the other there will be gaps under the fencing. Does it really need to be perfectly flat, or can I fill any gaps or holes with rocks or hardware cloth or other obstructions? I'm off to stare closely at others' photos and set ups but hoping we can ease up a bit on the "perfection" part of the leveling.
Sue

We had the same

Our whole yard is on a slight slope, we did a little digging (super hard clay, didn't work well...) so ended up filling in the low side with pressure treated lumber. You could use lumber, rocks, or hardware cloth on any gaps!

we had the same issue here’s what we did, the sloping roof makes the un-level ground almost not noticeable. Your eye is drawn to the roof line which we made intentionally sloped

 

[Lils Roost]

Central CT? Me Too.... I'm building a new coop now. It's elevated and the space underneath connects to the run. I can say my property is much more sloped than in your picture; off about 6 inches from one side to the other. We built the raised coop frame with 4 x 4's in the corners going down to the ground. 2 x 4's from corner to corner. Two of the four corners have poured footings; the other two have cement blocks leveled using landscape rocks to level on the down slope. I put 1/2 hardware cloth on the sides, wrapped it under the 2 x 4's at the bottom down to the ground and 14 - 16 inches out on the top of the ground (predator apron). On the side that's lower, the hardware cloth going down to ground provides a nice sturdy barrier that I filled in behind with rock and put rock in-between the ground and the bottom of the 2 x 4. It's good, sturdy and the rock at the bottom is good drainage. I put paver sand on top of the rock and tamped it down forcefully. This process proved to be much easier than digging in the rock filled ground.

All of that being said, your coop doesn't look that uneven to me.

 

[NameIwish]

Sue

Sue: Better to have a sloping site so that water may easily run off. They are chickens, and will not notice the slope - but would notice the dampness. The floor of the coop can be as level as its walls are plumb.

Gaps between ground and structure can be closed off with wire mesh buried at one edge and run up the side of the coop to close any gaps and form a barrier as against intrusive varmints.

If the county building inspector has any objections, have him call me.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Central CT? Me Too.... I'm building a new coop now. It's elevated and the space underneath connects to the run. I can say my property is much more sloped than in your picture; off about 6 inches from one side to the other. We built the raised coop frame with 4 x 4's in the corners going down to the ground. 2 x 4's from corner to corner. Two of the four corners have poured footings; the other two have cement blocks leveled using landscape rocks to level on the down slope. I put 1/2 hardware cloth on the sides, wrapped it under the 2 x 4's at the bottom down to the ground and 14 - 16 inches out on the top of the ground (predator apron). On the side that's lower, the hardware cloth going down to ground provides a nice sturdy barrier that I filled in behind with rock and put rock in-between the ground and the bottom of the 2 x 4. It's good, sturdy and the rock at the bottom is good drainage. I put paver sand on top of the rock and tamped it down forcefully. This process proved to be much easier than digging in the rock filled ground.

All of that being said, your coop doesn't look that uneven to me.

I actually never posted any pics of my yard - I only posted a stock photo of the coop and run that we got from a friend. But now that the coop and run are assembled on the property, the sloping doesn't seem to bad. Still in the process of predator proofing - that hardware clothing is killing my legs, arms and hands!