First time building. Advice on sloped terrain?

[Calomel]

This is a picture of what I'm wanting to build. I saw a helpful thread on here about coop planning that suggested using Google SketchUp and I had way too much fun designing this. I wanted to fill the bottom with sand.


In an ideal world it would probably actually look like that when I'm done, (ha!) but I'm not that good of a carpenter. I would like to do the best I can to make a good safe coop for my ladies to live in with the materials I have though. Most of the wood I have is salvaged boards from when my neighbor took down an old pool deck. They include three 14' long 2x4's and about a dozen 6' and 8' boards.

The advice I am looking for is about terrain and the coop foundation. This is my backyard and the place the coop will be.

In the first picture, I'm standing halfway down the slope of my backyard with the camera and facing North. The lawn curves down toward the side (West) fence. The second picture is two of the 14' boards and two 6' boards laying out on the lawn to give myself an idea of where the coop and run will be.

How would I level that area for building my coop? Is it even worth worrying about?

 

[weluvchickens]

we had the same problem, but not as dramatic as yours. We found free fill dirt on craigslist, and made multiple back breaking trips with a truck and trailer, then hauled it all into the area with our wheelbarrow, and regraded the area. Walking on it packed it down fairly well, and we put a full ton of sand on top of the area for our run.






The foundation stones are two deep laying on their side on the sloped end, and only one deep by the sidewalk. It was a lot of work, and your slope is steeper, but it was worth it.

 

[Calomel]

That is really interesting. What sort of stones did you use for building up your retaining wall? Are those concrete pavers? Did you still need to lay down hardware cloth or wire underneath/around the coop to keep burrowing critters out, or does the retaining wall handle that problem?

 

[jamband]

With all dues respect to the above poster please do not build yours that way. Those blocks laid on side like that have very poor structual integrity. The basic concept is fine but you need to use full size cinder block or similar, dig the trench, get it all level and compacted inside, lay down a few inches of gravel , and then the blocks.

 

[En Plein Air Farms]

Welcome to BYC! as a side issue have you reviewed your city's livestock guides and restrictions? Your fence appears to be up against another building and 2 fence sides, is it yours? Most of the threads I've read here require at least 20 feet from the neighbors property lines, some more than that.

Best wishes with your project.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree to check the regulations. Those can be really important.

I would not worry about leveling it especially since you are going to have a raised coop. Raising it with dirt is fine, but I'd really think more about berms and swales to keep rainwater runoff out and leave it sloped so it will drain. Hopefully that fence has openings big enough that rainwater will drain off

I don't know what the story is on that fence, but with that size of raised coop and that terrain, I'd probably just put in posts to support the coop and the run fencing. I would not use any wood horizontal across the bottom except at your door/gate.

I'd suggest you look at putting an apron around the bottom. Lay about 18" or so of fencing/hardware cloth flat on the ground around the bottom and attach it to the bottom of your fencing so nothing can get in. Hog rings or J-clips work great for that, or you can just wire it together. You don't absolutely have to bury it, but removing the turf and putting it back over the apron works well. The idea is that a predator goes up to your fence, starts to dig, hits the fencing, and does not know to back up. It's really effective.

Good luck and congratulations on that free material.

 

[weluvchickens]

yes, they are concrete pavers. No offense Jamband. They work well for us how they were laid, but I do agree that a full cinder block would be more structurally sound. Please take the above comment on drainage into consideration too, we did actually install drainage pipes around the back side as well, because water drained naturally in that area and we didn't want a mud pit back there. And our city regulations require 6 feet from the property line, and 50 feet from a neighboring house, so definately look into that prior to building. We went to all of our neighbors to tell them what we were doing first, with 100% approval from them all. It wasn't necessary but in our mind respectful

 

[Calomel]

Thank you all for the great advice! It really helped me decide on what I need to do with the coop for happy hens. <3 I did talk with my neighbors and they are ok with chickens moving in next door, one of them seemed pretty excited about fresh eggs so that's a plus. I'm sure the hens will be laying more eggs than we can eat ourselves. I couldn't find anything in city regulations on the distance the coop needs to be from the property line, but I'll dig a little harder and call around. Thank you for the help!

 

[kristenm1975]

I'm a nanny, not a contractor, but when faced with building a coop on very slanted terrain, the idea that came to mind for me was simply to make the tall vertical poles of the run longer on the slanted part and shorter on the top of the slope, using a level of course, and just using the apron method to make sure the wire is secure on the bottom. If you're building the coop on the ground, naturally this method doesn't work, but with the style that you've posted pictures of, I don't see why it wouldn't work out nicely. Please do correct me if I'm wrong because this is how I planned on building my next coop.

 

[BigRooNTN]

If you are going to raise your coop then by all means use something to level it. Of course I would use a 4 ft level. The rest of the run that you are in-closing just cut to fit. Just make sure it is predator proof. There are many great suggestions on here for your consideration. Now, with that said, I have a question about Google Sketchup. Free or fee?

and

.

I am very interested in it.

Thanks.