| While chickens are not the messiest animals on the | | | | damp and vermin out of your henhouse. |
| farm their house and run need to be kept clean, both | | | | Your henhouse plans should include ideas on how to |
| for their health and for your own. A good set of | | | | build nesting boxes for your hens. You should plan to |
| henhouse plans should help you to create a home for | | | | build one nesting box for every 4 or 5 hens and they |
| your hens that is both comfortable for them and | | | | should be kept layered with clean wood shavings as |
| functional for you. A henhouse really does not need | | | | opposed to straw, it's much easier to clean up. Most |
| to be anything more fancy than four walls and a roof | | | | henhouses have a feeder inside to keep the food |
| but it should follow some general rules to make it | | | | out of the rain and snow. Your feeder needs to be |
| provide both elements with a minimum of fuss. | | | | about the same height as the top of your chickens' |
| Depending on where you are planning to build you | | | | backs. You should build your feeder to allow for 2 to |
| henhouse plans can be adapted to suit the terrain. | | | | 3 linear inches of space for each chicken that you |
| You should look for an area of higher ground; this will | | | | have. |
| help keep the ground around the henhouse drier by | | | | A large door should be part of your henhouse plans, |
| providing better water runoff. If your henhouse is | | | | this is so that you can easily enter you henhouse for |
| going to be a permanent fixture then you should | | | | cleaning purposes. It also helps to have a big enough |
| consider pouring a cement slab that slopes slightly | | | | door to be able to get in and remove the eggs from |
| towards the chicken run so that you can wash it out | | | | the nesting boxes. The overall design should make a |
| more easily. At the same time a layer of one or two | | | | safe place for your hens while making it easy for you |
| cinder blocks to start your walls will help keep the | | | | to take care of them on a daily basis. |