Building your hen house; what does a good design look like? It’s hard, I mean, keeping hens. If their shelter is dirty or unhygienic, they fall ill easily – and hen houses get dirty a lot.

Furthermore, bad design can mean poor ventilation for your hens. These are only some of the things you’ll need to take into account if you’re building your own hen house.

There are various ways to build a hen house, but they all follow basically the same ideas. There are two opposing schools of thought regarding hen house design.

The first asserts that hens do not like dark, stuffy, claustrophobic spaces. The second argues that hens do not cope with bad weather – in fact, that extreme weather can make them ill. It’s pretty much impossible to follow both these schools of thought.

Below are two common design ideas, that follow both views:

1) Backyard Coop

This is a small, mobile coop, surrounded by fences. This is a bit like a run or a yard, and the chickens are able to wander around. Inside the coop, they can go after insects. The structure will be well ventilated, and imitates their natural environment the most closely.

2) Nesting boxes

This common type of hen house is enclosed. A hinged roof facilitates regular egg collection as well as cleaning. To clean, open the lid, prop it up, remove the boxes and clean the structure with a hose.

Hygiene is extremely important in this type of house, due to its enclosed nature. When you design your hen house, consider the following points: Are you using appropriate materials? Use good quality materials.

Be aware that predators can easily chew though wire mesh – support the windows with stronger wires. Concrete is a recommendable floor material, as it is strong and easily washable.

Is it well ventilated? Hens hate the wet. They need some air in their homes. If you’re relying on doors and windows for ventilation, make sure they’re easy to open.

Crowding can be disastrous. Is it well lit? Hens can’t stand dark, claustrophobic, spaces either. If you want to make use of natural light, you need to work out where the doors and window will be.

Electric lighting may be preferable because it has the advantage of warming up the house at night and in winter, and makes everything a bit more comfy.

Is it hygienic? This is so, so important. Bad hygienic will lead to disease. It also makes hens bad layers, due to stress and irritation. Make sure the house is easy to clean, and clean it often.

Also, you need to work out whether each hen will have enough space – both initially and if you decide to increase your flock. Lastly, think about space. It may sound basic, but remember that your hen house can’t take up more space than you have in the first place.

Also, each hen will need between 8 to 10 inches, linearly. For more information, try self-help books or searching online. This should throw up several suggestions for hen house design.

DIY Hen House Design Guide

Do you want to know how to build a hen house for your back yard?

If you do, check out the Building A Chicken Coop manual by Bill Keene. Bill is an seasoned chicken farmer with more than 20 years experience.

His guide was written to teach you how to build a small, medium and also large chicken coop on a shoestring budget. For more information, click on the link below and see what Bill has to offer.

==> Click here to visit Building A Chicken Coop now!

Here are some of the features of this chicken housing.

• Made from sustainable grown timber so you are not harming the environment.

• Solid construction which makes it resistant to rain, wind, and snow.

• The dimensions are 60”(L) x 50”(W) x 42.5”(H). Lots of space for 4 egg laying hens.

• Flat packed for easy shipping and handling with minimal cost.

Is the chicken coop any good?
As of January 2010, there are 7 people reviewed the coop on Amazon. Here are some of the actual user testimonials:

Maddy Slew of Boston, Ma said:

I first saw this “Ark” design in England a few years ago. I looked at building one myself but was put off by the expense of materials and finding the time to complete the project. This is a really well built, solid coop. My hens love the space to roam around during the day. The roosting area has good ventilation and easy access for cleaning. Mmm, and did I mention fresh laid eggs each morning!

Laura Childs from Canada said:

First of all I can’t even begin to tell you all the ways that I’m happy with my coop. No more chicken yards that look like a barren wasteland, no more worries over the smell of a ‘ripe’ coop, no more treks to the coop stooping over to collect eggs. My new coop is a conversation piece, fully functional, well constructed and was easy-to-put together. Could I have built this myself from scratch? Yes, if I had a free weekend to commit to the task, but I value my time and my weekends more than that. In an hour I had the hens in it – every two days I move them to a different location in the yard – just great!

There are 5 other testimonials on the site and it’ll make this post too long if I were to include all.

The bottom line is simple, many people have bought the hen house and they found it functional and fulfilled their needs!

How much does it cost?

The list price is $599. But it is on sale and you can buy it with a $100 discount. So the selling price is only $499. The shipping for this product is free with Amazon Super Saver Shipping.

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