Building a Hen House The Right Way

The area where you are Building a Hen House needs to be level and ideally have morning sun and afternoon shade. You will also want to consider whether you want a movable or permanent hen house and run. If you require a moveable house you will need at least 2x the area than if you want a permanent hen house and run. It is a chicken and egg situation! You can either decide on the area of ground to put your hen house which will determine the size of the hen house and number of chickens that you can accommodate or you can determine the size of hen house and find an area that can fit your hen house size.

Yes! Once you have determined the area you have available then you can determine what size hen house and run to build. This is a chicken and egg situation (pardon the pun) as you could decide how many chickens and size of hen house and then find a location to accommodate this. Use the following information as an average guideline for Building a Hen House:

Hen house: 1.5 sq ft per chicken
1 nesting box per 8 chickens
Roosting perch = Approximately, 6-10 inches per hen.

Hen Run: At least 4 sq ft per chicken

You now have selected the area and size of your hen house. What else should you consider when Building a Hen House and choosing plans?

Features that you may want to think about:

Ease of accessing the eggs: Does it have a pop up door to the nesting boxes?

Ease of cleaning both weekly and monthly: A pull out drawer can be helpful for weekly cleaning but a full access hatch or removable wall makes monthly cleaning and pest control easier.

Rain/sun cover for the hens: A raised house can be very nice for hens to seek cover from rain and sun and also keeps food dry.

Predator Control: If you have active predators you will want to consider having a closed run (top) for flying predators and a solid base to discourage digging predators from accessing the hen run.

Matching house architecture: If you are building a hen house to match your house you may consider materials and style of house you want to build.

Plans for Building a Hen House need to be easy to understand, build and allow for maximum flexibility to cater for the decisions made above. Some plans also give you information on how to raise chickens which is an added bonus.

Find out more about Building a Hen House easily with detailed plans, advice and more by CLICKING HERE .