LUXURY CONDO FOR 6 CHICKENS
Designed by Jenny Robson
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Questions?Email Jenny Robson at jenny@webelfin.com or jennysuerobson@gmail.com or phone 250-745-3523 BC,Canada |
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Reasons to use my design
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Questions?Email Jenny Robson at jenny@webelfin.com or jennysuerobson@gmail.com or phone 250-745-3523 BC,Canada |
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back 
front 
inside |
This chicken house is 8ft long, 2ft 8ins wide, and has an overall height of 5ft, plus the height of the support blocks, making it suitable for use in the back garden of a city lot. It has a design which is pleasing to the eye and should be less offensive to neighbors since it could be hidden behind a 6ft fence. Large double doors on the front mean easy access. These, combined with an inside chicken house width of 2ft 5ins, (not much wider than a kitchen counter), make the inside very easy to reach for cleaning without climbing inside. Since people do not need to go inside, the headroom can be scaled to the chicken's height rather than a human's height. Both roosts and the perch are attached with double-headed nails dropped into holes, making them easy to remove for cleaning. The floor is only one piece of plywood so there are no groves in which the dirt could collect, other than where the floor and walls meet. The width of the chicken house is such that it is 4 inches narrower than a standard width of hardware cloth. This is wire netting which is available from a regular hardware store and is welded at each joint, as opposed to chicken wire which is a smaller gauge wire with twisted joints. The hardware cloth is affixed under the floor of the chicken house and is bent upwards underneath the siding for extra strength. Hopefully this will stop the raccoons from ripping it off and stop the rats from chewing through the bottom corners of the chicken house. The chicken house is designed with a "lid" which lies flat on top of the side walls, and is attached with screws every 6 inches. The hardware cloth is attached underneath this "lid" and it wraps around underneath the siding as with the hardware cloth under the floor. The roof is put on separately after the "lid" is attached and just serves to keep the rain out. This way, the rats may get under the roof in the spaces between the rafters, but will still not be able to get into the chicken house. The ends of the roof are left open so anything trying to nest between the "lid" and the roof can be pushed out with a broom! A large netting window gives good ventilation in summer, while allowing children to watch the chickens without going inside the chicken house and getting their feet dirty. In the winter, most of the window is covered with polythene or Plexiglas, with a small space at the top under the eaves for ventilation. The chicken house has lots of daylight coming inside all year round. There is an egg collecting door on the outside which opens directly into the nesting box. Children can peep in and see the hens sitting on the nest, and they can collect the eggs from the outside. The nesting box fits along one of the end walls, with the feed box and oyster shell box tucked away underneath it, against the wall. The roosts are off the ground with enough head room for the chickens to stand upright underneath, so they have 7ft of the 8ft length to run around in. The water can be put just inside the double doors for easy access to clean it out, but it is away from the feed. The nesting box has a sloped roof design to keep the chickens off it, and it is dark, cosy and off the ground which is what the chickens like for a nest. You can add more blocks underneath if you want to get the Chicken House higher. Just don't make it so high that you can't reach the egg door! If the Chicken House is only one block off the ground, you could sweep the litter into a cat litter box. If you make the Chicken House higher, you could get a wheel barrow underneath. Keeping the Chicken House off the ground will stop the wood from rotting. It also discourages rats from nesting underneath. I had no more problems with rats once I had moved my hens into a new Chicken House about 12ins off the ground. However, I did have 3 cats, but even they hadn't been able to eliminate the rats when the Chicken House was right on the ground. The little door on the end of the Chicken House opens into the nesting box, so that you can reach the eggs. The little door is large enough to be able to clean out the nesting box from the outside. The hens should have an outside run attached to the Chicken House . For 6 chickens, an 8ft x 8ft run should be large enough. Of course, the larger the run the better and letting the chickens run free range would be best of all. The chickens will also do wonderful bug patrol in the vegetable garden in the fall when they will enjoy cleaning up the garden area. Do give them an escape route back to the Chicken House in case of eagles, dogs etc. or put a net over the vegetable garden. They will put themselves to bed in the Chicken House when dusk falls. You will need to lock them in when dusk falls because this is when the raccoons come out to play. These plans consist of notes, cutting schedules for framing, plywood cutting plans, a shopping list, 31 photos with step by step instructions and 19 diagrams. The diagrams consist of framing layouts to scale, rafter layouts, how to lay shingles on a roof, 3-D interior and exterior layouts and templates for peaked roof and flat roof rafters. Each side of the chicken house is exactly the size of one sheet of plywood on its side, which covers the base as well as the wall framing. The plywood cutting layouts have taken the kerf width into consideration, and the sizes have been adjusted so that the siding, roof, floor, nesting box, oyster shell box and feed box are cut out of exactly 5½ sheets of plywood / ranchwall siding. The feed and oyster shell boxes are designed to tuck away underneath the nesting box. |
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| 16. | DOUBLE DOORS | 
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| a) | Cut door framing 6xP from 2" x 2", and 4xN1 (or 4xN2) from 2" x 2", depending on door option (see Photo Box 5b for options). Use 12 @ 2¾" + 28 @ 1¼" screws. | ||
| b) | Make the double doors as in Diagram 15 using 2¾" screws. Measure your opening first and then make the frames ¼ " smaller in both directions than your door opening. Use the 2" x 2" cross piece for support for the Hasp (fastening). | ||
| c) | Test the frames in the openings before you screw on the plywood. | ||
| d) | Screw on the plywood with 1¼" screws. | ||
| e) | Attach the trim before you put the hinges on the outside. | ||
| f) | Put the fastening in the center, lining it up with the 2" x 4" on the backside for support.
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| Front cover | Diagram 1 | Base Frame | |
| Index | Diagram 2 | End Wall at Roost End | |
| Notes | Diagram 3 | End Wall at Nesting Box End | |
| Materials Purchasing List | Diagram 4 | Frame for Double Doors | |
| Tools Required | Diagram 5 | Front Wall with Double Doors | |
| Framing Cutting List | Diagram 6 | Chicken Door Insert | |
| Photo Box 1 | Frame on Blocks | Diagram 7 | Back Wall with Chicken Door Insert |
| Photo Box 2 | Plywood Floor | Diagram 7a | Trim for fixing Wire Netting |
| Photo Box 3 | End Wall at Roost End | Diagram 8 | Wall Assembly and Cross Braces |
| Photo Box 4 | End Wall at Nesting Box End | Diagram 9 | 3-D Diagram of Roost End and Front Wall showing siding |
| Photo Box 5 | Front Wall with Double Doors | Diagram 10 | 3-D Diagram of Nesting Box End and Back showing Siding |
| Photo Box 6 | Chicken Door Insert | Diagram 11a | Roost and Perch Layout |
| Photo Box 7 | Back Wall with Chicken Door Insert | Diagram 11b | 3-D Diagram of Roosts, Perch and Nesting Box Cross Pieces |
| Photo Box 8 | Wall Frame Assembly | Diagram 12a | Peaked Roof Rafter Truss |
| Photo Box 9 | Plywood Ranch Wall Siding, Lid Bracing, Roosts and Perch | Diagram 12b | Optional Flat Roof Rafter |
| Photo Box 10 | Door Support | Diagram 12c | Rafter Layout with Plywood on it |
| Photo Box 11 | Remaining Plywood Walls and Lid | Diagram 13 | Roof Strapping Layout for Metal Roof or Cedar Shingles Only |
| Photo Box 12 | Roof Framing | Diagram 14 | How to Lay Out Shingles or Shakes |
| Photo Box 13 | Trim (No Photo) | Diagram 15 | Double Door Framing and Trim |
| Photo Box 14 | Roofing | Diagram 16 | Nesting Box, Feed Box and Oyster Shell Box |
| Photo Box 15 | Chicken Door | Diagram 17 & Template 3 |
Rafter Diagram for Flat Roof Rafter and Template for Notch for Flat Roof |
| Photo Box 16 | Double Doors | Template 1 | Template for Rafter for Peaked Roof. This has had to be cut into 3 pieces because of the length. Please join all 3 pieces of the template together before you cut the wood. |
| Photo Box 17 | Nesting Box, Oyster Shell Box, Feed Box and Water | Template 2 | Rafter Brace for Peaked Roof Rafter Truss. This is in 2 pieces. Please join both pieces of the templae together before you cut the wood. |
| Photo Box 18 | The End | Plywood Cutting Plan 1 | Chicken House Floor, Nesting Box and Egg Collecting Door |
| Plywood Cutting Plan 2 | Exterior Siding and Lid | ||
| Plywood Cutting Plan 3 | Feed Box, Oyster Shell Box, Center Panel of Roof | ||