How steep is too steep?

[KyCoop]

How many chickens v/s how much grass? If you have a lot of chickens that grassy slope will turn into a mud slide in a month. I would definitely plant some bushes to help hold the soil and also give the girls some cover and shade.

 

[aart]

If you have a lot of chickens that grassy slope will turn into a mud slide in a month.

Good point!

 

[TOMTE]

Chickens have POWERFUL legs. They tackle this steep hill like it's nothing.

How many chickens v/s how much grass? If you have a lot of chickens that grassy slope will turn into a mud slide in a month. I would definitely plant some bushes to help hold the soil and also give the girls some cover and shade.

Great tip!

 

[TwoCrows]

View attachment 4032010
The thick red area is where the level area is and the thinner red line is the hill.

Good exercise, will keep them healthy!

 

[KyCoop]

They won't just eat the bugs and grasshoppers. They will eat the grass, the weeds , the roots EVERYTHING. And the digging , don't forget they are tiny pro excavators. I personally would cut in some stairs so it will be easier for you to navigate in case you have to retrieve an ill or injured girl.
Repelling will be hard to so with a sick chicken in one arm.

 

[TOMTE]

And the digging , don't forget they are tiny pro excavators.

Oh my gosh, isn't that the truth! Every day it seems like my girls are digging a new hole in the run that's about a foot deep!

 

[Sylphy]

Well this hillside is full of bindweed and tumbleweed that I'd love to eradicate so this might be the perfect opportunity for me to get a fresh start! Plus it borders my garden area so it will be nice to get a handle on all the weeds!

 

[Bawkbok]

That hillside looks like a great place for snakes to hide.

 

[perkolator]

A lot of my property is sloped that far, the chickens have zero issues traversing the terrain. If this was my project, I'd likely make the whole setup terraced into the hill to simplify things. Terracing is expensive and a lot of work but that's a steep slope and it will greatly assist with preventing the migration of all bedding materials to the downhill side, which WILL happen once chickens start scratching on it and take out all that grass. For humans to enter a terraced run on the slope, I'd have a side door on each level.

 

[countryladyNH]

Hi brand new here. I do have a large area outside to let my future hens to roam that is totally flat, it is right next to a fairly steep hill probably about 45° going downhill. I was wondering if I could expand their area by utilizing this space which is not used for anything else to give them a bit more room to explore and eat grasshoppers! Or if that would be a bit too much for them. Appreciate the help!

Our entire backyard is a hillside about that same steepness and all our hens have no problem going up and down it foraging all the time.