we put ours on a slight slant of ground so the rain and snow water ran away from the run..we insulated our coop for the winter and to keep the summer heat out.. if you have some shade that is great. we put in windows so when the chickens roost they can look out.. we have a timer for the lights and some off the timer with just a light switch. you will need a heated waterer for the cold months to stop water from freezing..we put our coop about 2' off the ground so they could get under it for dry ground and shade. you need to use hardware cloth to keep them safe from predators and bury it about 12-18" deep to stop digging animals. we covered our run also to keep predators out.. and put everything tall enough that we could walk into it without having to bend to clean. we put a small storage closet inside to keep bedding. food, grit, and calcium so we don't have to trek it back and forth in the snow.. we also put a door on the run so we can use a snow blower to keep it clean in winter time. gl with yours and have alot of fun.. keep us posted we love to see other coops and runs
