Do-it-yourself Hen House

Building a hen house requires much planning and execution. Plan it right, and you will have a wonderful house for your hens to live in.

The first stage of would be planning and preparation. There are many different styles and sizes in which hen houses can come in, such as small hen houses for a few hens to live in and you can only reach into, to large chicken mansions that can fit up to eight hens and you can walk into. With considerations of the number of hens you plan to have, you can then decide on which size and style of house would suit best. Make sure each hen space should be at least 4 to 4 feet. Do not forget that you will also need to see the space that you have, and that the ground of that space should be firm and leveled. After making these considerations, you will need to put place some elevation on the ground so that the hen house will be elevated a few feet from the ground. You could dig holes so that the posts that elevate the house will be sturdy.

Next would be to build the flooring. Floor frames can be built out of 2x4s on top of the posts. After creating the square shape frame, install support beams evenly throughout the floor, at about 24 inches from the outer part of the frame. Then, nail inch plywood to form the floor. Each join of the floors meet each other on the support beam.

After that would be the framing up of the walls. Have 2x4s in to be placed in length to form the frames of the wall. Nail the corner boards properly into place, or onto the floor. Once done, nail the support beams into the floor studs evenly spaced onto the floor. Then, place the rest of the support beams for other features like doors and nest boxes. You can then nail in the roof supports after that. Before completing the walls and roof, build the nest boxes and waterproof them before placing the plywood.

The last stage of building a hen house is to nail the plywood into the wall studs, placing the roof, and then covering it with shingles. Do not forget to make opening for windows and doors for you to access into the hen house. Lastly, paint the walls.

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