Need help for a run on a sloped yard

[BlindLemonChicken]

I am in NC too and the clay is a pain. I wouldn’t add wood to equation because of mold, which is something I have struggled with since my coop is in the shade. It might be worth adding gravel or something more porous.

 

[ChiknMama1983]

Greetings from Kentucky with a sloped run and clay soil. Pictures will be very helpful. I can tell you there is a shovel in your future. The battle of the mud will involve Ditches, Dams, Drains, Roofs and Gutters. I added these things one at a time to see what would work.
First thing you need to do is dig a diversion ditch on the high side of your slope just outside of your apron if you have one. You are going to divert the water from coming down and running down and running through the run. That is step one.

Thank you! We have talked about adding a French drain in which I think is essentially what you are describing.

 

[ChiknMama1983]

I am in NC too and the clay is a pain. I wouldn’t add wood to equation because of mold, which is something I have struggled with since my coop is in the shade. It might be worth adding gravel or something more porous.

We have considered gravel too, hoping that the weight to that will stay in place. Do you think gravel would be uncomfortable for the chickens to walk on? I know, I’m worried about mold too with wood, just not sure how else to effectively make it level and cover the clay mess.

 

[ChiknMama1983]

You could just band the perimeter instead of of building a whole floor

We currently have a wood border, but in spots at the bottom of the slope, the sand washes away over the wood. I feel like we need to make it level and I really would like to cover the clay mess.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

We have considered gravel too, hoping that the weight to that will stay in place. Do you think gravel would be uncomfortable for the chickens to walk on? I know, I’m worried about mold too with wood, just not sure how else to effectively make it level and cover the clay mess.

I think if you mix put something on top of the gravel it would be good. I was thinking wood chips because they do break down but I haven’t used them in this climate so I’m not sure that’s a good idea. With proper drainage it might work

 

[Ridgerunner]

Photos could really be helpful.

Exactly what I'd suggest for terracing would depend on how steep the slope is and how big your run is. Since you don't want wood, use something like brick or cinder blocks, maybe pour a concrete strip, across the slope to form a series of flat areas where the soil is held in place. That should stop the worst of the erosion. Gravity will still pull some clay downhill when they scratch so you may occasionally need to use your shovel to move some dirt back uphill. Any bedding, especially anything that can float, will probably be moved downhill when it rains.

First thing you need to do is dig a diversion ditch on the high side of your slope just outside of your apron if you have one. You are going to divert the water from coming down and running down and running through the run. That is step one.

Local drainage patterns play into this. If rainwater is entering the run from above or the sides a diversion ditch or installing a barrier to divert the water could be a very good thing.

If you use gravel, consider pea gravel or some other rounded rocks that are smooth. Crushed gravel can have sharp edges that might hurt their feet when they scratch.

 

[KyCoop]

We cant give much more suggestions until we can see what we are dealing with.

Adding any material to the run will be futile until you get some ditches and dams dug. As you said whatever you put in there is going to wash away.
The first drain I tried was a fresh drain through the middle of the run. I put pea gravel and sand in it. Didn't help much other then to give something for the girls to dig up.

 

[jbj25]

We currently have a wood border, but in spots at the bottom of the slope, the sand washes away over the wood. I feel like we need to make it level and I really would like to cover the clay mess.

As some have already said it would help to see it.

I have mine on sloped ground. I don't even have a wood border like a mentioned. The hardware cloth does a good job of keeping everything in.
You mentioned sand. So, why use sand? There are other things you could put in there that wouldn't get washed away if you had hardware cloth because it wouldn't fit through the small openings. Plus, the chickens would love to scratch and dig in it.

 

[perkolator]

I have a chicken area on a slight slope. The structure was built as a terraced design, but the run fence wasn’t.

An uphill ditch or berm to redirect water flow around the setup would likely help considerably. Personally I believe in aeration to help a lot, so I would use lots of wood chips in the run area. With enough volume the chips will keep chickens above the saturated clay. Over time the organics will decompose and integrate deeper into the clay, will also attract worms which will create passages, all of which will help to loosen things up inside the run. Sand could also help with this, but I don’t think by itself. It won’t be immediate but it should help.

Due to my slope I discovered the bedding will migrate downhill unless you control it. I used wood logs as weirs/dams to retain bedding and create terraces in the run and it’s helped a ton

Mold isn’t really a problem in the outdoors, like it is indoors. It takes very specific conditions to even get “mold” outdoors, such as high concentration of feces that’s kept moist, not a piece of decomposing wood. I see this as a non issue. Again with benefits of wood chips - fungal activity colonizing the bedding sends root-like mycelium through the clay ground and makes more passages for water to penetrate.

 

[MROO]

We have considered gravel too, hoping that the weight to that will stay in place. Do you think gravel would be uncomfortable for the chickens to walk on? I know, I’m worried about mold too with wood, just not sure how else to effectively make it level and cover the clay mess.

Unless it's super-fine, like crusher-run, gravel should be a substrate, not a surface. Bumblefoot is NOT pleasant for you or your birds! If you do opt for a wooden floor, raise it up and put regular gravel below it. You can set your wooden decking directly on top of it or just lay weed-cloth and gravel over the surface. Either will deter varmints better than just the clay - and you won't have to keep weeding it.

If your slope is steep (again, pics would help,) consider raising one end high enough to put a wheelbarrow directly under it. Being able to scoop or sweep bedding out a trap-door and directly into a barrow is a bonus I wish I'd built into my own raised coop!

Another hindsight ... I added a vinyl floor to my coop. If I had it to do over again, I'd add it before the walls went up to keep the edges from curling. Other than that, it's been a great upgrade - and vinyl scraps (or small room cuts) are fairly inexpensive.