So I've been out and watered the veg this morning and the space for our chicken coop next to them is still empty. Why? Because I can't decide what style of chicken house to use. Do I want to build one for myself, to a design of my own, or would it be better to start out with a hen house someone else, who has kept chickens for ages, has designed and built? I want any chickens we re-home to be as happy as possible and I'm not sure my woodwork skills will be good enough to make the perfect hen mansion, but then again the commercially available ones within our price range don't really inspire me either. I've been searching on-line for days for that perfect hen house and I'd like to share some of the more bazaar and grand ones with you.
Just how grand is this chicken Gazebo from Henspa? I'm not sure how practical it is as a day to day chicken house although it does have some very interesting design features. I would like my chickens to have more outdoor space to scratch and peck in.
This beautiful handmade chicken house with integrated run offers better outside space and the roof covering not only gives the chicken protection from the elements, but it can also help prevent them getting Avian flu. This was built by someone called Lee. Sadly I don't have a full name to credit for this beautiful creation
This lovely chicken house from Forsham Cottage Arks meant to home chickens in an orchard is very well designed as all the sides open up for cleaning and because it is on wheels it's easy to move about to make sure the chickens don't over graze and scratch one area. Sadly too large for my purposes and quite a bit outside my budget.
Now if you have Chickens that have delusions of grandeur and money is no object you can get a custom mansion built by The Hen House Garden Company. This Queen Anne style beauty is just an example of what they can make. Now if only I had a limitless bank account...
I'm loving this recycled car hen house made by Michael Thompson. It just goes to show, with a bit of imagination and some DIY skills you can create a happy home for your chickens out of the most unlikely raw materials. Michael, you are a very resourceful man and have inspired me to have a go myself.
I'm going to do a bit of a search through Freecycle to see what weird and wonderful things people in my area are needing to give away and work out if I can make a chicken dezrez from any of it. I might put out some feelers through The Free Economy Community to see if someone with good carpentry skills would be willing to take me on as an apprentice for a while in return for all the woolly goods they could ever need, hula hooping lessons and of course fresh eggs when ever they wanted any.
4 months ago
Shame I ebayed my hen house, I would have given it to you! I went for a house designed and made by someone that had bred chooks for years, and knew all the good and bad points of a house/pen. As far as I remember the important points are: have a roosting bar off the ground, don't use plastic (like the Egglu, not enough air circulation apparently), and stay away from roofing felt.
ReplyDeleteHen and the Art of Chicken Maintenance has some tips, and it's a really funny book too.
I miss my chooks, they were great fun to have around!
Len xx
The photos just get better and better! Each one was my favourite til the next . . . and the last one is just fantastic! Good luck with finding something either ready made or suitable to adapt.
ReplyDeleteI think if I were a chicken, I may be the one with delusions of grandure. That mansion would be SO cute to have in the yard!
ReplyDeleteVisually, the car one is my favourite. At a previous house, we had chickens in a bird aviary (with added chook friendly perches) that we opened during the day, allowing them to wander in and out into a small fenced "paddock".
ReplyDeletethanks for your great pictures
ReplyDeleteI am completely in love with chickens . But I realize that marriage between man and chickens is considered weird, so I will just keep
raising them on my backyard :-)