- You want to pick a trio for breeding and isolate the pair of hens with a cockerel
- You want to isolate a cockerel to stop him fighting or becoming over-friendly with a brother
- You have a broody that you want to use for hatching or to isolate to stop interfering with others
- You have a sick hen
- You have a hen or cockerel that is eating eggs
Once you have any number of hens you quite often have to isolate birds which does tend to present some pressure on the available housing. Our first solution was to adapt an old dog kennel which was only a partial success and has ended up getting pressed into semi-permanent service keeping a cockerel separate. But when this spring came in we simultaneously had a problem with a cockerel eating eggs and broody hens, so something just had to be done about isolation
The Solution
The solution I chose consisted of a terrace of four houses. The reasoning behind this was that a trio of medium-sized birds needs about 2 feet of perch length for comfort. So a standard sheet of ply would allow me to construct four of these houses in a block. This produced the most return on time and timber investment.
Materials
The house is built on a framework of treated 2 x 1.5 inch timbers and clad with 9 mm waterproof plywood sheeting. This gives a reasonably compromise between strength and weight - not to mention cost. There should be no problems with deterioration of the house over several years at least. The roof is covered in felt which will probably need replacing in three or four years time.
The house constructed used two and a half sheets of 8 x 4 foot plywood and about five lengths of 16 foot 2 x 1.5" timbers. Along with this, I used about 150 4 x 30 mm. screws, about 50 4 x 20 mm. screws, about 50 4 x 80 mm screws, about 20 4 x 50 mm screws, some scraps of roofing felt and and a few other scraps of timber.
If you don't have a reasonable supply of scraps, you will need a four foot length of 4 x 1 inch timber for making perch supports and you'll also need enough material somewhere around 15 mm thick to make spacers for the pop hatch runners. You will need 12 feet in length by 1.5 inches in width of this.
Construction
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The construction method I generally use is to assemble the front, back, sides and roof of the hen house as individual panels before screwing the lot together. I have in the past assembled houses by building the entire frame but I find the panel assembly method to be quicker and it also allows the house to be mostly built before final assembly which is handy if you want to move it either before or after putting it together. I generally use screws for most work like this as it is much easier to undo mistakes or take the house apart for moving. When screwing wood, you should always drill through the piece against which the screw head rests as this allows the screw pull both pieces of wood together. |
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The Front
The front is constructed as described below. I have also included a plan for the front here.
- Cut the plywood sheeting to size
- Cut the framework pieces to size. Before cutting the uprights, measure your material as it may be 50 x 35 mm as opposed to 2 x 1.5". This will slightly affect your dimensions and is not accounted for on my plans.
- Mark out and cut the holes for the pop-hatches as dimensioned on the plan
- Cut out the pieces for the framework.
- Rout the three internal framework uprights to allow the internal dividers to slide in. If you don't have a router, there is an alternate way in which you can assemble the internal dividers but this reduces the flexibility of the unit.
- Mark out the locations for the framework on the panel and drill out about eight 4 mm holes along the top and bottom and three for each of the internal dividers, left and right ends.
- Screw the framework pieces onto the panel using 4 x 30 mm. screws in the order top, left, right, bottom and internal dividers. Note that the internal dividers are assembled so that they protrude past the framework to allow the dividers to slide without having the rout the top and bottom frame pieces.
- Carefully drill two holes through the top and bottom frame pieces at the each point where it meets a divider and screw through here using 4 x 80 mm. screws.
The Back
The back is constructed as described below. The plan for the back is included here.
- Cut the plywood sheeting for each half of the back to size.
- Cut the framework and strengthening pieces to size. Ensure that your material is actually 2 x 1.5 inches before cutting.
- Rout the three internal framework uprights to allow the internal dividers to slide in. If you don't have a router, there is an alternate way in which you can assemble the internal dividers but this reduces the flexibility of the unit.
- Mark out and drill about five 4 mm. holes for the panel strengtheners
- Screw the panels to the strengtheners using 4 x 30 mm screws
- Mark the top and bottom framework pieces with the locations for each of the five uprights and drill two holes for each upright with a 4 mm. wood drill bit. Note that the internal dividers are assembled so that they protrude past the framework to allow the dividers to slide without having the rout the top and bottom frame pieces. It is probably best to mark these using the already assembled front panel.
- Screw the framework pieces together using 2 4 x 80 mm. screws for each end of each upright. Do not attach the framework to the panel as we want the panel to be able to slide off.
The Sides
The sides are constructed as described below. The plan for the sides is included here. If you don't have scraps of timber, you will need to buy a four foot length of 4 x 1 inch timber for making perch supports.
- Cut the plywood sheeting for each of the sides.
- Cut the framework pieces to size. Note that the top piece has each end cut at about 10 degrees and both cuts are parallel.
- Mark out and drill about four 4 mm holes in each panel for attaching the frame pieces.
- Mark out and drill four 4 mm holes in each panel for attaching the perch supports.
- Cut eight perch supports - you will only need two now. You will need either a jigsaw or a carpenter's saw and chisel to cut the internal angles. It is best to use something a bit thicker than the 9 mm plywood for this, but if this is all you have then it will have to do. I usually have some scrap from floorboards that I use for this purpose. Something around an inch thick is ideal.
- Screw the panels to the framework using 4 x 30 mm screws. Be careful to make the panels mirror images of each other. Somehow, I manage to get this wrong every time.
- Screw the perch supports to the panel using 4 mm screws that are slightly shorter than the combined thickness of the plywood and your perch supports. If you have one inch material, you can use the 4 x 30 mm screws. Make sure your perch supports are on the same side as your framework. It is very easy to end up with a support on the outside!
Internal Dividers
You will need to make up three of these as described below. The plan for the internal dividers is included here, on the same plan as the sides.
- Cut the plywood sheeting for each of the three dividers
- Drill four 4 mm holes through four of your eight perch supports as shown in the plan
- Using screws slightly shorter than the the combined thickness of your perch support and the internal divider attach three of your remaining perch supports (4 x 30 mm will do if you are using inch thick material for supports) to the dividers as per the plans.
- Drill four 4 mm holes through your remaining internal dividers as shown in the plan.
- Using screws slightly shorter than the combined thickness of two perch supports and the divider (4 x 50 mm will do if you are using inch thick material), attach the perch support to the internal divider.
Floors
You will need to make up four floor panels as described below. Unfortunately most of these are slightly different as shown in the plan here.
- Cut each of your four floor panels to external dimensions.
- Mark each of the corners of each floor panel according to the dimensions shown on the plan.
- Cut out each corner using either a carpenter's saw or preferably a jigsaw.
- That was easy.
Initial Assembly
It is easier to do the initial assembly without having constructed the roof, but if you have supreme confidence in your own measurements and the quality of this plan and you need to assemble the house elsewhere, then go ahead with the roof. Otherwise, you should complete the following initial assembly steps now. A plan is included here.
- Attach the right end to the front using 4 x 30 mm screws through the panel and 4 x 80 mm screws through the frame.
- Attach the left end to the the front using screws as shown in the same way.
- Attach the back to both ends using screws as shown in the same way.
- Insert the section divider bases into the assembly using two 4 x 80 mm screws through the frame at each end
- Insert the slats into the assembled floor using screws as shown in the plan. Some adjustment with a mallet may be necessary. Position the slats using a spare slat.
The Roof
The roof is constructed as described below. The plan is included here.
- Cut the plywood sheeting for the roof.
- Cut the the top and bottom framework pieces to size.
- Set your saw to cut at a 10 degree angle and cut along the length of the top framework (the one that ends up at the higher end of the roof) to get an angle. You should cut this piece right on the corner of the timber.
- Mark out and drill about eight 4 mm holes in the panel and attach the top framework using 4 x 30 mm screws.
- After initial assembly, sit the roof panel in place and measure the distance at the bottom of the panel from the edge of the roof to the framework of the back of the house.
- Then cut the bottom framework along its length at a 10 degree angle such that the dimension obtained in the previous step is the bigger of the two sides. This is marked as dimension A in the plan. You will probably gain greater understanding after looking at the plan.
- Rout the bottom framework along its length on corner B about 15 mm deep using a 10 mm bit. Again, you will get a better understanding of the required profile after consulting the plan.
- Now, mark out and drill about eight 4 mm holes in the panel and attach the bottom framework using 4 x 30 mm screws.
- Take a measurement of the distance between top and bottom frame pieces and cut the left and right pieces accordingly.
- Mark out and drill about three 4 mm holes in each end of the panel and attach the left and right framework using 4 x 30 mm screws.
- Carefully drill two holes through at each end of the top and bottom frames and screw the left and right framework to the top and bottom using 4 x 80 mm screws.
- Attach felt to the roof using felt nails on the frame pieces, but ensure that the felt does not obstruct the routed groove.
Final Assembly
The final assembly stage is described below. The plan is included here.
- The pop-hatch rails are each made up of a spacer and a guide. The spacer must be at least 3 mm thicker than the pop-hatch material. I used 15 mm plywood that I had lying around as scrap.
- Cut the material for the bottom slide, perches, pop-hatches and pop-hatch rails to size.
- Rout the bottom slide 15 deep using a 10 mm square bit.
- Assemble the bottom slide to the frame using 4 x 80 mm screws.
- Put the roof in place and check the fit of the back panels. Adjust the size of the panel or the routing if necessary. They should not be too tight as they will swell in the winter as the panels absorb moisture.
- Assemble the eight pop-hatch rails by attaching a spacer to a guide.
- Push the house over so that it is resting on its back and then,
for each pop-hatch, go through the following steps
a. As you go, drill 4 mm holes through the front panel for all screws.
b. Using 4 x 25 mm screws, screw the left hand rail in place with its right-hand covering .5" of the hole.
c. Put the pop-hatch in place loosely
d. Using 4 x 25 mm screws, screw the right hand rail in place so that the pop-hatch slides freely. Leave about a quarter inch of clearance to allow for swelling - Attach the pop-hatch stops to the front panel using 4 x 60 mm or longer screws.
- Drop in whichever floors and perches you require. Screw in the floors for the sections without slatted floors. In future, to remove floors, you will probably have to remove the roof.
- Attach the roof, and for safety drill four to size holes through the frame around its edge to allow you to screw the roof to the house.
- Slide in your back panels.
- You will probably want to attach fittings to the pop-hatches to allow you pull them up without having to lift them out directly. I normally use cup hooks or similar rings and polypropylene washing line for this.
- You will probably also want some kind of run. I am not going to
go into the details of run-building, but you can get the idea of
something suitable from this image.
