Local chicken lovers have tended to make good use of extra lumber, roofing, and even old shower doors, but Sheila’s hen house has a long history. While a young Sheila was still living at home with her parents her father gathered up the lumber from a bridge that was being dismantled to make a shed. When Sheila and her husband moved to Heath something more than 30 years ago they dismantled that shed to build a goat shed. The goats now have their own very nice building, and the hens have taken over the shed. The henhouse has two sections, divided by a chicken wire barrier. The hens have most of the room, but the front section is big enough for grain barrels.

Last year Sheila gave up keeping chickens while renovations were made to tighten up the building. There are a number of wild critters that like creeping into midnight chicken houses to get their next meal.  Part of the renovation included beautiful new egg boxes.  The boxes also open from the back, so that Sheila doesn’t have to go all the way into the chicken space to collect eggs. Here’s what I want to know.  Sheila’s chicks and mine arrived in the same shipment in June, but her chickens are already laying while mine lay an occasional egg but don’t see to have gotten the hang of it yet.  What explains that?

Because of problems with critters that crawl and fly, Sheila has a well fenced henyard. She even has fencing over the top so that hawks cannot swoop in for a snack.  This henhouse, yard and all, is located inside the electric goat fence, which means that her goats can visit through the chicken fence.

There are lots of things to consider if you are going to raise chickens, and my henhouse series does show the different problems that people have solved.

Don’t forget you still have time to participate in my Giveaway – The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer. Click here and leave a comment before midnight on Saturday, December 18.