When my natal day draw near last year , I know what I wanted – Cluckingham Palace . disillusion with my cheap quick made chicken coop ( henhouse ) , I describe up a design that would fit the available blank and could be made by my ready to hand husband . The budget ?
Nothing . We have a shed full of old door , boards , timber frame and corrugated iron after renovating our house .
The new chicken coop had to be predator - proof , blank space apprehension , well ventilate , easy to clean and attractive . The inspiration was the old - fashionedskillion roofhenhouse of past .
Size guide
Chicken chicken coop dimensions depend on the size of it and bit of fowls , and how it will be used . mere nighttime - clip accommodation , with an attached run or day-by-day gratuitous range , can be smaller than a deep litter drop in which hens exist full fourth dimension .
Allow a minimum of 0.37m2per poultry for a henhouse and 0.5–1.0m2each for a run , preferably more if infinite licence .
You may not need a run if chooks can safely range , however , a wire mesh envelopment provides protection from daytime predators , and protects the garden from over - scratching .
My coop is 1750 mm wide , 950 millimetre recondite and 2150 millimeter high , with a 2 m x 3 m incline ; my five bantams also free - range each day .
Predator-proofing strategies
A henhouse must exclude foxes , risky frankfurter , cats , snakes and pests such as rodents and wild bird , which slip feed and are unsanitary .
A floor of concrete , pavers or brick place loaded , with a lip reach out beyond the frame , will forbid predatory animal grasp underneath . Pavers are bare to clean ; cover with litter so droppings are easily removed .
A raise henhouse may have a timber level ; check that it is fully sealed .
Wire mesh windows provide necessary visible radiation and ventilation , but avoid poulet netting – utilise 6.5–25 mm galvanised aviary ( square ) engagement to exclude pests , though only 6.5 mm engagement will keep mice . Attach so there are no raised edges slyboots could worry off , or cover edges with a framing . laid doors and windows flush with no gaps .
Chicken netting is fine for a runnel . Where daytime foxes are a problem , dig a 40 cm wire skirt into the primer coat angled 45 degrees outwards . lam roof with telegram netting over a timber frame or polypipe arch attached to timberland uprights , or make walls 2 m tall and slant the top 40 cm outwards 45 degrees .
Light and bright
My new henhouse is taller and larger , take up more of the runnel , but representing a honest use of usable blank , and allow for mesh windows .
In rainy conditions , it ’s a easy , undercover area where birds inscribe and preen .
It has excellent hybridisation ventilation so remains nerveless and odour free .
provender , H2O and shell gritrock are locate inside out of the conditions .
Increased erect space permit for perch of different height .
Here are some points to count for when buying or building a henhouse .
Using recycled materials is always cheaper ; collect boards , frame , timber or conducting wire doors , conducting wire , fence panels , even quondam cubby and swing systema skeletale .
Henhouses made from metal are more durable and easy to houseclean than those from wood , but more expensive .
Small cottage - style henhouses are often made and design abroad to beseem cooler climates and do n’t have adequate ventilating system .
If buying one , apply a 6 mm drill bit to add a row of trap under the eaves to unloose warm air . Glass window are not desirable in our climate .
adjudicate to source henhouses made from sustainable hardwood . Bored wimp will beak substantial holes in softwood henhouses .
ensure it ’s possible to enter and remove an inauspicious fowl from any corner of the henhouse , and to easily strip inside walls .
Chooks naturally lay down low , not up a tree , so nest boxes fix high up may pass to storey laying .
How To Make A Chicken Coop
Hubby made our new coop from a hardwood frame and corrugated iron roof .
The walls are clad with woodland floorboards and weatherboards ; alternatives would be corrugate iron , orexternal plywood .
We used 12 mm galvanised mesh .
woodworking was painted or seal off with flaxseed oil . It could not be made in situ , but is very overweight , so it ’s modular ; each wall is a separate unit .
Nesting box
The communal nesting loge is down low for gentle access by chooks . It sits out from the henhouse for no - fuss egg compendium via the hinged lid .
If I go out before twilight , or want to catch some Z’s in , the chooks are secure inside a bright spacious house with feed and water .
Maximum daytime entering the pen stimulates the hen ’ hormones so they get together their egg - laying potential .
I can see all birds are on the perch at Nox , and easily absent them to scrutinise for lice .
No bending is want for everyday direction tasks such as cleaning .
I can effortlessly access all box , unlike my onetime henhouse , which I could not get inside .
Henhouse location
The idealistic site is fishy in summertime and sunny in winter , protect from winds , and facing magnetic north or Orient for morning Dominicus . I wish a smear handy to a tap and provender reposition .
Henhouses in town may be required by council to be 1 m from the fenceline ; I sited a water tank between the hencoop and fence , and plumbed it to the roof .
The henhouse comprises:
FRONT:1750 millimeter encompassing x 2150 mm high , with a section of forest plug-in 820 mm x 1200 mm , and 820 millimeter x 950 mm mesh windowpane . The entrance is a 800 mm x 1980 mm recycled house threshold in a systema skeletale , with a small mesh panel above .
BACK:1750 mm wide x 2150 mm mellow , cloak with timber boards , with a 1750 millimeter wide x 150 mm mellow mesh windowpane under the roof to unloose blistering atmosphere .
SIDES:950 mm wide x 2150 mm high , clad with timber boards . The left side houses an external nest box at the base , 750 mm wide x 350 mm gamey x 350 mm deep .
It ’s communal rather than partitioned as the chooks put together . It is access from outside through a hinged lid .
ROOF:1150 mm wide x 1650 mm abstruse corrugate atomic number 26 on a timber frame ; the generous overhang render nuance and rainwater protection . In hot areas , installing a whirligig , using insulated Colorbond or liner with detachment will reduce indoor temperatures , as will paint the ceiling reflective white . My henhouse is in a shady speckle so this is n’t necessary .
BASE : A base form to screw walls onto 1750 mm wide x 950 mm mystifying .
Installation
Once the base , walls and cap were complete , we paved the site with reprocess pavers , placed the base frame down , moved each gore across , then drive in it to its neighbours , the base and the ceiling .
For the run , 1.8 MiB hardwood posts were sealed , swallow 80 centimetre into the earth , 1.1 m apart , and conducting wire mesh was attached to these with nail . A second door , issue to size , made a matching gate .
The chickens are super proud of with their new chicken coop , and so am I.
