Help! Final details for my new hen house

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Margaid

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I have booked the "build slot" for my new hen house from the local timber yard. I need to finalise how I want things set out - basically they will do anything I want.

It is 6' x 4' with a pent roof. The people door is in the 6' wall, with the shuttered mesh window next to it.

What is the best place for the external nestbox? I had thought to put it underneath the window as that should be the darkest place.

The pophole they usually put in the corner at right angles to the people door, then the perches go on the 6' wall opposite the people door and window. This keeps the perches away from the pop hole. Is there a better position for the pop hole?

They fit 2 perches as standard. What's the best way to position them with respect to each other and the back wall, given that I have Welsummers including a cockerel?

Any advice gratefully received.
 
Is this to stand alone in a pen or outside a pen alongside the wire. A lot will depend on this. Perches for large fowl should be 2"x 2" with slightly rounded edges.
 
Hi Margaid -its getting closer. The external nestbox needs to be on one of the sides that the water doesn't drain on. If you are not having a run fixed to it the access door can be at the front, as can the pothole. I'd have the nest box alongside the pophole and the perches opposite, subject to access for cleaning out. Vents at opposite ends preferably not right above the perches or blowing across them, although that may be difficult.

It's a complex problem Margaid. One I wrestled with for months before starting on our breeding coops. Still got the only component which was previous untried wrong -the perches. Ours won't cross one to get to another i.e. jump from one to another. So one has had to be removed.
 
The house will be freestanding in an electric fence enclosure approx 150 sq metres (12.5 x 12.5). I'll probably add a weather shelter to put the feeder and water in, extended from the wall the pophole will be in so it would be either 6' x 4' or 12' x 4', with one long wall half the length.

The people door, window and my proposal for the nest box would all be on the front 6' wall, the roof being at it's highest point here. The people door would be at one end of the wall, and the pophole in the 4' wall immediately at right angles to it.

I did wonder about fitting the pophole in the people door but am a bit worried about affecting the structural strength of the door, and as I eventually want to fit an automatic opener it may be best to have them separate.

The way they construct the roof there is lots of ventilation at roof height - highest point 54" which is fine as I'm only 5'. I'm not sure if they normally fit a ventilator in addtition to the big mesh window. I think I may fit another sliding vent in one of the other walls but not above the perches and as far away from them as I can fit it. We're fairly exposed and I'd like to be able to close off any vent through which the wind might blow.

The perches would go along the other 6' wall so they are opposite the window and people door and at right angles to the wall with the pophole. Is it better to have them at different heights, and how far from the wall should they be? One 6' perch isn't going to be enough for 9 -10 birds is it? although at least a dozen used to crowd on to the 8' perch in the Poultry Palace, but Houdans are a bit smaller.

As an aside, the Solway house has fixed vents above the pophole which faces SE as this is the least frequent wind direction here - except for this morning. I've had to move the field/food shelter in front of the house to stop the snow blowing in the pophole and also through the cracks down the sides of the end wall. I've changed their bedding so it's now hopefully clean and dry inside.

Sorry to keep firing all these questions, but my searches in the books I have and on the forums (fora?) have left a lot of things unanswered.
 
Marigold said:
Would it save space if the pophole was part of the people door? Depends on the orientation, as Chuck says.
Click to expand...
That's the way I always used to do it on sheds. I always use flaps as they give a bit of shelter to the pop hole, also they don't freeze and it's one less place for mites to hide.
On a pent roof, with only one side for run off it's easy and cheap enough to fit 76mm guttering, and run away from anywhere that takes traffic.
 
I don't think anything is critical except as Chris says, nothing on the back where the rain will run off. My instinct after adapting a lot of sheds would be to put the pop hole on the end near the door with the nest box either at the same end or on the front. Have the perches removable so you can slip them out when you want to work or clean inside as two perches the full length will not leave you much room to move. I now put perches at the same height to stop them scrapping over the highest one but again, it's not critical. If the nest box is to be raised up it's best to have a landing board to jump up on.
 
Thanks Chuck. You have descirbed pretty well what I had in mind. As I have another 50m of electric netting I'm considering put a second pop hole at the opposite end so that I have the option to alternate use of the enclosure rather than trying to move the house. Although the hens will free range there will be times when I want to keep them in.

I had also thought to put a (removable) board under the perches which would be easy to clean on a daily basis (I poo pick daily) and keep the floor cleaner. I've realised over the past 24 hours how important that is with the hens not wanting to go outside as we have several inches of snow. I could at least put a feeder in the house without them having to scratch in the droppings.

Good point about the lack of room for me when the perches are in place. Is there any reason for not having them in a "L" shape i.e. one perch on the long wall and the other on the short wall? That would provide 10' of perch space and would solve the problem Chris mentioned.

Sorry about all this - I'm virtually snowed in so have lots of time to think about the house etc, particularly in the light of current experience. I think the feeding shelter is a bit on the small side and they obviously need to be able to have a scratch around out of the weather.
 
A droppings board is useful as it keeps the area clean but if it's fixed, it will take up a lot of space as it will need to extend at least two inches beyond the perch. You could put two perches along the end wall which would give you two four foot perches and leave a good bit of room for you to move inside and that's what I'd go for as the four sheds I have are designed that way as are the divided stables. A second pop hole is something I think could be very useful in giving you more options.
 
There's nothing like a recommendation from an experienced poultry keeper - thanks Chuck. I was going to have the board and perches removable for when I do a complete clean.

Just one last question (I hope!) What is the best spacing for the perches?
 
Measured my perches today (never measured before !) and they are between ten and twelve inches apart, the same from the wall. The hens are not comfortable if the perches are too close to the wall and they rub their tail feathers.
 
Thanks Chuck, Have just finalised the design. Now all I have to do is get to the timber yard which is more remote than we are!
 
Just a word of warning Margaid. Despite all your planning and detail there will be aspects you wished you had done differently. I consider every coop I build as just another prototype and never expect them to be perfect, just better than the previous one.

Just waiting for the photos now.
 
What, My photos Chris? Could be a long wait as I hate digital cameras (it's a Fuji Fine pix BTW).

I do realise it won't be perfect but it would be daft to pass up other peoples experience.

Actually I'm seriously toying with the idea of having it bigger but the 8 x 6 is another £100 which seems a lot. OH would probably blow a gasket, so maybe I'll stick with this and then try and build the Poultry Palace - with some redesign!

Going to ring them and see what the roads are like where they are - it's all country lanes to get there.
 
We've got a Fuji Fine pics Margaid. Great camera but now can't use it because they don't support the Mac platform.

I wouldn't get a bigger one until you are sure the smaller one works, although a bigger coop is more forgiving as there is more room for adjustments and to expand your flock -with all the problems that brings as I am sure you have read.
 
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