Building a henhouse/run

[shirlthegirl43]

Looks interesting. Pardon me for being a bit blonde but, the sticky out bit is the nest box and the roost is upper level. The bottom boarded bit is therefore a shelter? and the run/cage bit will be chicken wire or weldmeshed? Is that about it? (asking coz Madmax and I are now at the stage of recycling our neighbours cat run to make our chook hotel)

[davefromthechipie]

Looks interesting. Pardon me for being a bit blonde but, the sticky out bit is the nest box and the roost is upper level. The bottom boarded bit is therefore a shelter? and the run/cage bit will be chicken wire or weldmeshed? Is that about it? (asking coz Madmax and I are now at the stage of recycling our neighbours cat run to make our chook hotel)

Its not a blonde moment just hard to see the finished thing in that pic yeah the bit sticking out is the next box ,.board bit going up is the main houseing . The rest is going to be chicken wire. Here is the house I have tryed to base this on , Should make things clearer TREETOP Small Chicken Coop & Run

[shirlthegirl43]

Cheers for that, looking good anyhoo. I take it the cost is much reduced by doing it yourself These companies must think only rich folks want to keep their own chooks

[kirsty b]

I reckon your'e right there Shirley!

I'm lucky Steve is pretty handy, cos I'm not!! All I'd make with batten and plyboard is a mess. Himself on the other hand would make me a henhouse.

My girls sleep in a 7x7ft shed that we bought second hand, cut a pop hole, butted it up against the run and nailed up some perches. Nest boxes are wooden fruit crates (that I blagged off one of our market traders) sitting on top of upside-down tesco online shopping crates.

A refit is due, but finances will dictate when, and sadly it won't be soon!

[davefromthechipie]

Cheers for that, looking good anyhoo. I take it the cost is much reduced by doing it yourself These companies must think only rich folks want to keep their own chooks

From doing this i can kinda see why they cost alot .Its taking me so long to do it The wood cost is about 145 nuts/bolts 8 and not got the paint /or woodstain . Im betting finished its going to be about 170 . Then if i add my hours building it ( As an electrician lets say i make a 150 a day that 450 +170 so 620 pounds already ) All that said companys selling like that link before will buy bulk orders so cost will be much less and they will have preset machines so less build time . Just noticed they want 150 pounds just to build it so god knows how it comes packed! Can't be that easy " From doing this iv come to the conclusion it's a massive saving if you dont work full time or just build weekends And that the most important thing is the fun in making it and the sense of achievement at the finished project .


Anyway heres an update




[img=http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1417/5th1pc3.th.jpg]

Sorry about the image size they can take some time to load .

[Claire72]

We just converted an old garden shed. (when I say we, I mean OH did the work and I cheered him along)
A hole was cut in the side, and a door put on runners with a latch to keep it up.
We found some old deep shelves which we nailed pieces of wood to the front of and filled them with straw for eggs, added a nesting perch along one side.
We boarded up the window (there wasn't any glass in it, and the chickens are only in the shed at night). A little ramp on the outside, then attached a run (which they only used for a few weeks as they quickly killed all the greenery and it turned into a muddy swamp)
They free range now, but we are looking at fencing them in a bigger area and clipping their wings as they are murdering my veg plot

[Two_Sheds]

I found this design for a mobile coop (link from Snadger) Portable Chicken Mini-coop Plan

[shirlthegirl43]

Thanks for that link Two_Sheds. We have just recovered loads of weldmesh from our neighbours cat run and we were wondering how best to make it into a lightweight run. You have solved the problem!! Please take one large pat on the back!

[Two_Sheds]

or: Omlet are launching a budget version of the Eglu this summer for £200 Plastic hen coop brings fresh eggs to masses - Times Online

[davefromthechipie]

or: Omlet are launching a budget version of the Eglu this summer for £200 Plastic hen coop brings fresh eggs to masses - Times Online

About time too

Been ill so just got back to work on it . Kinda sick of doing it now dragging on .Still its almost done just the door ,take it apart then paint ,wire to fit

Picasa Web Albums - david - henhouse

[shirlthegirl43]

That looks superb! Well done. Lucky chooks. Can't wait for the plans so that Madmax can tackle one for us.

Sorry to read you have been ill, hope it wasn't anything too nasty.

[davefromthechipie]

That looks superb! Well done. Lucky chooks. Can't wait for the plans so that Madmax can tackle one for us.

Sorry to read you have been ill, hope it wasn't anything too nasty.

Thanks Shirley it's by no means perfect I got the nest box angle abit wrong i think ( still cant work out how it was off center by 1cm but then my maths is as good as my spelling ) >< As for being ill it wasnt anything bad more self inflicted ie getting draged out to the pub on a work thing :/ dont remember much about it but not to do that again for a while//////

[shirlthegirl43]

LOL, happy hangover!

I am sure the chooks won't notice the maths error

[davefromthechipie]

LOL, happy hangover!

Hehe yeah 3 days later >.< .

2 and a half Hours of editing and uploading photos I finished it This years crop: Upto 8 Bird hen house/coop Il do the write up later My eyes are killing me but the photos are pritty much self explanatory.

[Gary66]

Great minds think alike - just posted a similar thread myself...