I managed to finish the eaves on the hen house over the weekend and fitted the doors and their hinges.

The latches for the doors are pretty simple, they’re just a cam made out of ply which you turn to lock the door. They seem reliable, but I can imagine the screws holding them getting tight, or the bits of ply expanding in the wet, so it’s not an ideal long term solution.

There’s also another door at the end of the hen house as only two thirds of it’s length is for the hens – The other third is reserved for storage of feed and my (future?) beekeeping equipment.

There is meant to be a window in the hen house – it’s the south side so it shouldn’t get the hens too hot in summer. I haven’t ordered it yet, but it will likely be made out of clear perspex/polycarbonate sheeting.

Internally, the hen house end is going to be lined with untreated plywood. This will also include a sacrificial floor which sits on top of the treated floor making it (hopefully) easy to replace.

Overall, not much longer to go until we’ll be able to get some hens and hopefully, fresh eggs! Our plan is to pick up some already laying hens to supply us with eggs immediately and incubate some purebred eggs for the long term.