I STILL haven't gotten any chickens, but am getting broody for them again. In case you've forgotten my babblings from before, I live in a neighborhood and really want three hens. No roos -- won't do it to my neighbors -- and no babies -- tooooooooo much responsibility under the circumstances. I'm looking at buying a hen hut from www.henspa.com and wondered what y'all thought of them, if anything. I took a stab at building one but with my limited skill and bad back, it would be worth the money just to buy it instead, you know?
So... any experiences? I'm thinking that they will actually live in this little structure, though I would bring them into the garage at least if it gets too cold, which it generally does not do around here.
Thoughts on the Henhut?
Gee, i love it. Sure they would live in it! I would recommend a larger run though, depending on the size hens you get. ARe they for poleaseure, bug control, show, or egg production?
Need to show this to DH. There are some features i would want added to my Hen Havens.
Which, btw, my DH built our hen havens [smaller] with scraps lying around and about 8-10 hours labor each. So, if you think you could do it, and you don't have lumber, somebody does, just check your freecycle or craigslist locally.
I will have hens for sale, so i will mapquest you and see how far away you are....
tf
Tamara, I'm just north of Beaumont, over by Louisiana. Where is Fritch?
OMG, you are as far away as you can get, can you say one hour BEYOND Amarillo?
i finally got to browse the site, and all their products are phenomenal. i could not spend that much, but it sure gives hubby more ideas... something for everyone there i would say...
Beyond Amarillo... there's something beyond Amarillo!!?!?
Yeah, I hate to spend that much on something that would be so simple to make, but it's just me and with my back, I'd rather save up than take on a project like that. (Ouch. That sounded like something my mother would say...)
double ouch here...
did you build a haven and get some hens?
Not yet, but I'm about to. I'm tempted to get the Eglu, but they really are ugly, so I think I will go with the henhut. The Eglu sure would be easy to clean, though. And I've talked with an extension agent here who helps the schools out with agricultural classes and supplies chickens and eggs, and she's said she would get with me whenever they have 3 hens who are no longer good layers. I'd love to get a few eggs, but I want them mainly for entertainment and bug control.
excellent! you can run a hen retirement home!
;-)
tf
So even when my sisters aren't visiting there can be a bunch of hens sitting around the back yard...
;}
you bet!
I got my first batch of hens about 2 years ago. I also searched on the internet for chicken coups and was immediately drawn to the Henspa. It is the coolest coop ever! I love how the boxes are at a tilt and the eggs roll back. I could afford the pricey Henspa, but my hubbie is pretty handy and made a copycat. We even put it on wheels, but don't use that feature very often. They do need some where to run around. We let ours run free in the backyard.
I wouldn't suggest putting chickens in your garage because they make a mess. They poop everywhere!!!
we'd love to see pics of his creation, if you have them to share, start a henspa thread?
tf
Pictures would be nice--a blueprint or diagram would be even better! LOL.
Smith, I do have my chicks in the garage, but they are in a pen that we put up when we need it. As they grow larger, we put them out in a temporary henhouse and coop and take the pen down so we can use the garage again for whatever we want. The temporaty henhouse is a metal shed. The coop is divided from the other part by a fence and gate. After we integrate the youngsters with the older hens, we leave the gate open so they can all range in both coops. We also let them free range in the evening for a while. They go in the henhouse on their own and then we lock them up for the night.
GG
So I am finally getting around to posting a picture of the "poorman's version of the Henspa". I posted a comment on June 6th that mentioned my DH built our version of the Henspa because we couldn't (I think I typed "could afford the Henspa" in that earlier comment) afford the real Henspa. Hence the reason DH built one. Maybe I should name mine the "Henhouse". It is great but the next one we build will have slanted boxes so that the egg rolls down out of reach of thehens. I have taken several photos but can't seem to add more that one image. Any suggestions on how to imort more that one image on a single reply?
this is perfect, my Dh is about to start on an "eggmobile" to pull with the garden tractor, and this is exactly what i had i mind...
you just have to keep posting, one pic per post... and hurry, i want DH to see this!!!
tf
This is a close up of the side of our "henhouse". I cut pieces of Astroturf to fit in each box. So when I don't have time to scrub the henhouse down, I take the Astroturf pieces out, hose them off, dry them in the sun, and slip them back in.
This is the opposite side of the henhouse. DH put a big swinging door so that I can get in and hose the thing out. If you look closely you can see a small square in the corner. This is the chicken's door. It pops up and latches on top so that the chickens can freely go in and out.
DH thought this picture was an important one. It show how he rigged the front to go up and down.
DH used a cheapy jack and welded it in the back so that both, front and back go up and down. (We leave it down when it is stationary and crank it up when we move it.)
On a final note- a picture of my 6 hens as they retire to their resting place for the evening. They like to be cozy and snuggle together:)
love it!
now i am certain that jack thingy is important, will get DH looking at this tomorrow. in order to move it in and out of the newest pen, we will ahve to make two small ones...
tf