Constructing your Henhouses - Tools to make it faster

We know how important good plans are when you are building Henhouses, but no one ever really talks about tools.

We have built a ton of moveable poultry coops and tractors for breeding pens for our 20 plus rare chicken breeds. Also we framed 2 large laying poultry coops inside a barn. One of the things that made all this construction possible was the purchase of an air compressor driven nail gun. These can be rented by the day at local hardware stores, if you just have a small henhouse project to do. And I would highly recommend them.

We use the nail gun for framing and building the bones of the henhouse. A power drill with square tip screw driver attachment is best for screwing on the henhouses plywood sheeting. We have tried the staples and brad nailer with the air compressor but plywood panels can pop off especially when the henhouses are moved. By screwing on the plywood sheeting you give the henhouse structure more rigidity and it holds up way better when you move it to fresh grass!

For the unpleasant job of attaching the welded wire for the poultry coops run, the air gun stapler is excellent. Way faster than a manual stapler (I'd estimate at least 10 times faster) and you don't have the blistered aching hand at the end of the ordeal! As extra reinforcement so raccoons can't pull the 3/4 inch staples out and the wire off to access the chickens, we screw a large 1"+ washer at 2 feet intervals.

One of the things that makes building great henhouses easier, is having a clear idea of what you want to do, the materials you need and how to go about it! We have found these plans for henhouses excellent, clear and well thought out. And encourage you to take a look.

Tags: henhouses, henhouse, poultry coops, chickens coops, chicken coops