new hen house

Hi all!

i,ve nipped across from the lottie pages for some advice if I may? may be here alot in the future.

we are looking at keeping a few chickens approx 4 and maybe a couple of bantams..
the house ect will have to be diy,d due mainly to the design of the garden and the areas still have to be relatively child friendly.

now the plans at the mo are to have the hen house attched to a wall and raised off the ground to stop vermin ect, with a run probably going off at an angle. though the birds will be allowed out to explore the garden properly at weekends.

as its diy and i can get pretty much endless supply of pallets would I be ok building the house out of this type of wood? i,m pretty good with diy so it won,t be a poor job and it will be waterproof ect, its just one of my main concerns are will i be introducing anything that i don,t want into the chickens home that may become harmfull or just a pest to the chicks? the other thing is I,m prob going to leave a gap at the back so that it does,nt get damp ect and prob attached to the wall by bolts that I can unhook the house at times.

any advice would be welcomed good or bad..

i,m used to getting stick on the lottie pages

There's always lots of advice on houses as we all own the perfect ideal house!!

However checkout the stickies area here's one reference I noted from poultrygeist http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=32947.msg394174#msg394174.

Also check out a few pro. houses made by reputable manufacturers who know chx, not ebay sellers some of who know little about chx.  Forsham Cottage Arks are market leaders and have really well thought out houses,  The Domestic Fowl trust have a range of aviary types, and there are several others you can find via google.  Getting the design right is more complicated than you might think as it must embody good husbandy methods for the number and type of chickens you want to keep, be suited to your situation and above all minimise the amount of work required to keep it clean and maintained.

No problems using pallet wood but it won't last as long as treated planed wood, as Karlooben says, and also it will be dificult to make it water and draught proof.  Better to use T&G or ship lap treated boards or even good quality ply.  One thing I'd say is don't use felt on the roof (or anywhere) as it harbours Red Mitte the bain of the chx and their keepers lives.  Use Onduline corrugated roof boards for minimum maintenance, or heavy duty shiplap.  I also prefer that nestboxes have shutters otherwise they will be fouled at night making more work for you in the morning or fouled eggs.

We all could write a book on house design but I'll stop now and wish you ..................... Best of luck.