Is there an easy way to build a good hen house?

Question

I would like to keep about 20 hens to produce eggs for my own family. But, I am not very good at building things. Any ideas?

Answer 1

This might be a good project to learn to build on. There are designs for hen houses that can be moved so that the guano fertilizes different areas of grass. Unfortunately I can't find a link to that kind. I just googled this (I want chickens, too, one day) and found there are a lot of kits and pre-built coops.

Here are some pre-built ones that look pretty cool although some are a bit pricey: http://www.mypetchicken.com/Coops_Starter_Kits-c3.aspx?gclid=CPGimpaC54oCFRw8gQodEw30lg

And another:
http://www.backyardfarming.com/products.html

And another:
http://www.henspa.focuspage.com/?gclid=CNGfwP2C54oCFQXTgAoduRQUlQ

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Unless you have a "REALLY BIG" family, 20 is too many. Figure you'll get an egg, sometimes two a day from each bird. With only four hens, that's 28+ eggs a week. I don't know any family that goes through that many eggs in a week. With 20 hens you'll get 140+ eggs. You'll also need quite a bit of room for 20 hens. For that size flock, a small barn or large shed is needed.

Answer 4

You can buy sheds from many garden stores. If you get a wooden one you could paint it, shingle it, insulate it and panel it. I would suggest hanging a light or two in the ceiling with the controls in the house and in the chicken house, so you can shut the doors and turn on the lights for egg production and heat in the winter. I put my chicken house on a cement slab for ease in cleaning (sweep it out) and it worked great. I insulated and paneled the inside and put two shelves of nests.. You can buy them or make them from wood.. I chose to make simple wood shelves with straw beds because it was more chicken foot friendly. I also put a couple big wooden nesting boxes on the floor in the spring so we could have little fryers coming up. along one side I put a couple wooden roosts. I got the biggest shed I could afford and had only a ten chickens PLUS one very brave rooster to attack those varmits that might get through the fence to attack my hens. :) I had plenty of eggs and adjusted my cooking to reflect the egg crop. I had the cement slab put near a tree for shade in the afternoons. If there is no shade you can build a little porch or roof extention for your hens. BEWARE of naming your chickens and rooster :) because it will have you running out in the rain and storms to see why your chickens are all cackling in the night. (see weasel attack 101).. Dumpling .. my favorite white chicken was so loveable I even would pet her.. and Grit my rooster was a feisty guy who kept the girls interested in egg laying.. Good Luck this is a fun project and mighty tastey too. (I recommend only 10 hens because as you know, they do get older and I only had to stew 10 pets eventually.)

Answer 5

In the event that you are searching for woodworking plans you can discover a huge number of woodworking plans here:

http://woodworking.toptips.org

It's the perfect result in the event that you are simply starting with woodworking and also in case that you have already experience with it.

You can discover a ton of woodworking arrangements and you will have the capacity to deal with the projects with a CAD/DWG software. It permits you to alter the projects and to alter the arragements.if you are a beginner this is a great approach to start. It's the best approach to woodworking; and on the off chance that you already have experience you will discover a considerable measure of plans and inspirations to improve your capabilities with woodwork.

Answer 6

Lots of companies that make aviaries also make chicken enclosures. But, if you are going to build yourself, then you need 8 foot high chicken wire. I know that sounds like it's over kill, but the height keeps foxes from climbing over. About 6 to 8 inches of that needs to actually be underground. So you dig a 6 to 8 inch deep trench and then lay the wire. That keeps the predators from digging underneath. I prefer my pens covered so that I don't have to worry about predator birds. Have a look at http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#TOC and http://www.backyardpoultry.com/index.php?page=./board.php for advice from top knotch poultry breeders.

Answer 7

http://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesigns.html

The owner of the site would LOVE it if you could take pictures as you build your coop and then send them to him :)

Answer 8

lumber....nails and a hammer...it's proven to have built many...good luck