If you build it...

...they will come. Or at least they will if you order some chickens!  :) 

Our backyard has been quite a project.  And we feel that we have made a perfect little oasis for us to relax in and enjoy.  And now I am thrilled to add a small flock to our backyard for even more entertainment and enjoyment.

The original "deal" was that my husband could have a Harley if I could have a chicken house.  (I am secretly still hoping he DOESN'T get a Harley.  I am so afraid of him being on the road on a motorcycle!) Once we shook on the deal my husband and I both began researching chicken houses.  I just wanted to buy a pre-made building and have it moved in.  But my husband wouldn't hear of it.  He built our pool house and was determined to build the hen house too. 

Let the building begin.

In the picture above on the left the "sled" and flooring are done.  Top right shows the back wall (East) added.  This will become the wall where the roost will be added and the poop board.  And the bottom picture shows the North wall which has an opening for the people door.

Here is the South wall.  You can see the opening where a window will be installed and the opening that will become the chicken door.  On the left side of the picture you can see an area without a wall.  That will become the nest box area.

The nest box partitions are built and the nest box roof is built.  We decided that we will have two doors to the nest box area and they will open from the front rather than the roof of the next box opening.  Because of the height of the roof we determined that reaching over the sides would be very hard.  

And the finished house.  Complete with two windows.  A great chicken door and chicken ramp.  I love the two doors for the nest boxes.  They are latched with door handles that lock with a key making access by a raccoon impossible. (We have had a few friendly raccoon visitors in the past)  We have vents on both sides of the roof and also have vents on both the north and south walls of the chicken coop.  It isn't shown in this picture, but there is a regular door on the North side of the coop for "human access".  The chicken run is partially covered in 2 x 4 wire to prevent hawks from getting to my chickens.  One portion of the roof is metal sheeting to give an area outside that has protection from the weather and the sun.  And the chickens have access to the area under the chicken house.  The wire at the base of all the run area has at least a 12 inch apron all the way around.  In the future we will cover that area with river rock and make it look nice and easy to maintain.  

I hope you enjoyed the building process of our Hummingbird Hollow Hen House.  In a future post I will show some of the features up a little closer and let you know how they are working for us.