hen housing

[lesleygl]

After reading one of the threads on here over the past couple of day re Chicken Cube, Eglu and the Go, I have been wondering, is it best to keep the hen house off the ground as it is in some of the pictures on the websites?

The runs on these hen houses do look secure, does any know if they are?

It also looks like some of these organisations offer hens and rescue birds along with their products, is it a good idea to buy like this?

Happy New year everyone, I really enjoy reading my daily update/fix even thought I don't have any hens yet.

[RichmondHens]

Hi Lesley, Yes it is best where possible to have a henhouse off the ground, raised on legs.
a) it gives the birds somewhere to shelter in wet weather
b) it gives vermin nowhere to hide (they will burrow under an ark on the ground)
c) the house stays much drier
d) stops the house rotting (if it is a wooden one)

My preferred option is to have a freestanding henhouse on legs, standing within a separate enclosure (electric fencing is ideal) but you may be limited by space.

The choice of hen is up to you. If you buy a "package" ie henhouse + hens you may get a certain degree of aftercare/advice, but not always. The hens sold are often hybrids so always good for a beginner.

[Bramble-Poultry]

hi lesley - if you feel handy with a hammer and nails there are a load of designs for hen houses in the sticky on housing that i have drawn up. infact, i have just uploaded a plan for a run with a hen house lifted off the ground.

it is my preference to lift the house off the floor where possible as it deters rodents and keeps the damp out of the house too.

[tlck9]

I bought my ark, a 3/4 chicken one, and have had one made recently to accomodate 10, didnt think I would expand so quick but just love it.

My advice:

Off the floor, always gives them somewhere to hide from the weather.

Integrated run if your stuff for space, also somewhere if you are away they can be kept so neighbours can easily look after

Access - find where where you can access the nest boxes easily and also gain access to clean it out.

I would perhaps get your housing and then gloss paint the insides white, this will stop their "business" soaking into the floor (regardless of paper/chippings etc) i found this happened.

Also check out the local garden centres/pet stores, these seem to have copies of ones on ebay, and will allow you to check the quality of them before buying if you go the ebay route.