Building your own hen houses is not as easy as hammering some wood and wire mesh together. You need to take into account materials, insulation, ventilation, lighting, positioning, nesting, perches, litter collection and protection from the elements and other animals.

Planning
One common mistake a lot of people make is that they don’t draw plans of the design of the hen houses. It is essential to draw plans of the structure of the house and the design of it. Not only will you save money and building materials it ensures that half way through the project you don’t drift off and end up creating something that well……. Is costly and not what you had in mind.

Lighting
Your hen houses need to be located in a place that has plenty of light and sunshine. This way your chickens get the warmth of the sun and as much daylight as possible. It is estimated that chickens need around 14 hours of light each day; this is why the location of the hen house is particularly important.

If you want your chickens to produce delicious eggs all year round you will need to ensure there is a good light source throughout the winter. A common method of this is to install electrical lighting on the ceiling of the hen house. One electrical light bulb is fine for a small house.

Forces of nature
It is imperative that you keep your chickens well protected from the extreme weather conditions. Again location plays a crucial role in this. To safeguard against heavy rains and floods you should build the hen houses slightly elevated from the ground. Just bear in mind the worst weather conditions that you have encountered and build the hen house to protect your chickens from this weather and more, this way you are protecting your chickens from whatever nature may throw at you.

The walls of the hen houses should be insulated; this is to ensure the chickens are kept warm during the cold nights.

Predators like to kill in private
The simplest and easiest way to protect your chickens from predators is to build the hen house near your home. Having the hen house in looking distance from your home ensures there are no ‘surprise attacks’ from animals looking for a meal. You should always look to protect your chickens and predators don’t like having human witnesses to their chicken murders.

Another point to consider when protecting your chickens from predators is to bury the re-enforced steel wire (used in the run) about a foot into the ground. This is to stop animals digging underneath and getting to your chickens from underground.

General points
One question that is raised by many people is how to build the hen houses so you can easily hose down the floor but stop puddles forming. The easy and simple answer to this is to build the house so it slopes slightly, this way the water runs down and out of the door.

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