All being well, you should now have a ‘box’
on legs, with a floor and sides but no front or back. Here’s
where you have to be very careful. Both front and back are effectively
doors, hinged at the bottom. Let’s start with the back door
as it is the slightly easier one. First measure the aperture that
the door must fit into. Then measure out onto ply a door to fit
into this aperture. To allow for hinges and ease of opening, this
has to be VERY slightly smaller than the aperture. In my case,
this was 83.5 cm x 61 cm high. If you cut it too small, there
will be gaps, and if it’s too big it simply will not fit
(same goes for the front). Cut battening to strengthen this piece
of ply around the border as shown in the photograph lower down
the page. IMPORTANT: This battening is on the OUTSIDE of the house,
so that there are fewer places for red mite to hide on the inside.
I have a small egg collection door in the back of the henhouse.
This measures 30 cm x 30 cm and is positioned as shown below.
Add battening cut to fit on the inside of the house if using
thin ply, to take all the screws for the door fittings. I
drew the small door onto the back door of the house, drilled
a pilot hole and jig-sawed the door out, so it fits well.
To avoid possible drafts and to prevent the door opening inwards,
I added two strips of ply to the top and bottom as can just
be seen in the photo below. Then fit the small door in place
with hinges, door handle and hasps. I use hasps so the door
can’t fall open and put a padlock through the hasp.
Now fit two hinges
to the large door as shown below (only one shown)
Fit two lots of
thumb turns at the top, as shown.
There is currently nothing to stop the door
falling inwards, so cut some short pieces of scrap wood
and attach them to the inside of the house, at the top,
as shown here:
I used the same arrangement for the front door –
not pretty but it works.
Now for the front door, this looks a bit
more complicated.
First measure up the aperture, as with the back door, and
work out the exact size of the required door. Make a sketch
of these measurements. In my case, this is 83.5 cm x 83.5
cm. Work out the required size of the pop hole. Mine is
for fairly large fowl, so I wanted about 39 cm high x 32
cm wide. Work out how much ventilation the house will require.
I wanted quite a lot, as the henhouse is in a sheltered
spot and the run is covered in plastic sheeting so the house
can get quite warm. Here’s a very rough sketch of
the measurements I used.
Again, the framework of battening is on the outside of
the house, to deter red mite infestations. The framework
is made first before the ply is cut to fit.
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