Scratching Hens Have Struck -- TRASH HEAP

[Krisellen]

Totally weird post for a chicken group, I know -- BUT. . .
Quick background - I live in rural NE Arkansas. Property is heavily sloped woodland with a drainage culvert (now I know -trash chute) leading to a small lake.
I have a large enclosed area for the hens that encompasses an ivy covered hillside next to the house.
I built their coop and run a short distance from the base of the hillside.
They love to dustbathe. . . and over the past year have revealed that my (no longer ivy covered) HILLSIDE is actually an old TRASH PILE.
There is no way to remove the pile -- it would literally compromise the foundation of my house. The more they scratch the more the hill literally shifts.
There is a tremendous amount of broken glass, pottery, melted plastic, batteries, car parts - you name it (25- 5 gal buckets so far, and I'm not digging, just picking up)
I have no access with large equipment due to slope/trees and lack of skilled operators in the area.
Any ideas ? I want the hens and my house to be safe.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Oooooohhhhh my goodness. I'll have to think on this one for awhile......

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Can you post some photos, please?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh dear. Is your house's foundation secure, do you think? Is it possible your whole property consists of this ... trash pile? You might want to go to your county assessor's office and do some background checking. I hope I'm wrong but I tend to want to dot my i's and cross my t's.

 

[Aunt Angus]

As a temp solution for your flock, you could get temporary fence and steer them where you want them.

We have very, very similar terrain, and I found out that the previous owner graded some of the land and filled in some of the ravine. We put our goats down there to clear out the brush. The goats enjoy digging for acorns and blackberry roots, and they've dug up some interesting stuff. The guy must've thrown in all kinds of junk to build it up. We've found tires, cinder blocks, rope, chicken wire, glass bottles... And they did throw trash down there before it was cleared out.

It's not my foundation, though. I'm freaked out on your behalf.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I would think about covering all that stuff with cement, then the chickens no longer can get at it, and your house foundation would be safe

 

[nuthatched]

I would think about covering all that stuff with cement, then the chickens no longer can get at it, and your house foundation would be safe

Wouldn't that just be putting a shell on it?

 

[MotherofOrpies]

but at least the chickens wouldn’t get at it, and the foundation would be safe

 

[nuthatched]

but at least the chickens wouldn’t get at it, and the foundation would be safe

Safe from the chickens, yes, but now that it's started to shift, it will likely keep shifting.
Op, call a home inspector asap!

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Maybe drive long metal rods into the pile, and the cover it with cement, that may stop the shifting ?!