Sliding Pop-hole:

I wanted a pop hole of roughly 39 cm high x 32 cm wide. (You will need an exterior ply door to fit this aperture, allowing for a little space to slide up and down, not too tightly). Cut two thin pieces of beading (the same width or slightly more than the thickness of the pop hole door). Cut two pieces of battening and screw these together to make a groove in which the door can slide up and down.

IMPORTANT NOTE: to allow the door to open fully downwards, the bottom of the battening must be cut at an angle, as shown.

Cut the door a fraction narrower than the slot for it. Cut a piece of battening and fit to the top of door for eye to screw into, this piece has to be slightly smaller than the width of the gap into which the door will fit. TIP: When the sanded door is finished, painted and dry, rub a little candle wax along the edges to make it run better. Fit a length of cord as a door pull. Fit another eye, level with the top of the house door, through which this cord can run, and another at the side of the house.

Fit wire mesh to back of window. Cut two pieces of ply to fit within the frame, one under the window and the other above the door. Remember that the piece above the pop hole must come down low enough so that there is no gap when the door is closed. Fit two small pieces of wood to stop the door falling out – two screw heads would suffice otherwise. Fit hinges and thumb-turns...…and here’s roughly how your henhouse should look at this stage, although the roof should not be on yet.

The next photo shows the back door completely open. Both doors will open fully, enabling you to clean out thoroughly.

At this stage, the henhouse is a little bit spindly and wobbly on its legs. You might be thinking the whole lot will topple in the first breeze. Make up three frames of battening to fit inside the three outside sections of the underneath of the house. You can fit the wire to this before or after you fit the frames in place. Drill and screw it all in place and staple wire on firmly. Remember, the front side is left open without wire. If you prefer, you can fill in the other three sides with sheets of ply instead of wire, to provide a dry area for the chickens.

Fitting a perch

2” chamfered edge, decent quality wood without splinters and well sanded down is what you need here. And here’s what I use to fit the perch to the sides of the house. They are available from most builders’ merchants and are used to fit beams into place. They come in a variety of sizes, including one to fit 2” wood exactly. Easy to fit, and the perch can be lifted out for easy cleaning.

You can fit the perch wherever you feel is best for the chickens. I don’t have one in this house at the moment as the ex-battery girls are still learning to perch.

Nest box

In my girls’ house, they have a very simple nest box made out of ply. It has no floor as the battery girls are very messy and I need to clean them out so often. Here it is before painting. It was made to fit exactly within the depth of the house and measures approx 52 cm x 30.5 cm. It is simply four small uprights of battening, and four pieces of ply with a shaped front piece and sloping sides, all screwed together. Don’t forget to sand down everything to avoid sharp edges from jig-sawing.