How To Construct A Hen House In The Garden

Article Written By: Mike Gary

The size and type of a chicken house will be determined by the number and kind of chickens that will be kept. Day old chicks will need a special kind of run, so will laying hens and so will broilers. For the purposes of this article how to build a chicken coop for laying hens will be described.

A pen of about twenty square meters will be acceptable to this little flock. It is true that factory farms squash two hens into one small basket where they can barely turn around. This is not an ethical or healthy way to produce food. A larger enclosure will allow hens to produce really healthy organic eggs in perfect conditions.

This is unspeakably cruel when one considers that a hen's idea of heaven is a patch of sand in which she can scratch, and ruffle through her feathers. This feature can be built into a hen house to keep hens happy.

A variety of materials may be used, as any journey through a human settlement will illustrate. Stolen bill boards, bits of plastic and discarded buckets all do duty as materials for chicken houses. But assuming that one wishes to build a fairly smart structure, the most essential materials will be chicken wire, poles, planks and sheets of iron or plastic.

The shape of the coop will be outlined by poles set about eighty centimeters into the ground. They should stand high enough above the ground to allow a person to walk around among the hens easily, without stooping. One firm pole should be designed to hold a hen proof gate that will be closed when it slams against another pole.

At one end of the establishment should be a laying facility. Because hens like to lay in private, away from prying eyes, laying boxes should be placed on a ledge about one meter off the ground. This will allow hens to hop onto the ledge before stepping sedately into the box to lay.

In addition to filling many dinner plates for human beings the hen attracts the hungry eyes of many predators, from foxes through cats, to snakes. A good coop therefore should be surrounded by a trench, at least 65 cm deep and filled with rocks or concrete. The surrounding fence should be sunk to the bottom of this trench, in an attempt to foil burrowers. The top of the enclosure should also be covered, to prevent airborne attacks from birds of prey. This is how to build a chicken coop that is safe and attractive.

About the Author

Chicken Coops are fun to build provided you have the perfect plans to fit your backyard. Get the best Chicken Coop Designs that work for you before starting construction.

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