THE HEN HOUSE

Throughout most of my life I have lived on farms where the previous owners had constructed  poultry pens. These were rough structures with some form of shed cover, like a rusty iron tank split in half to form a roof, and a wire netting run where hens could forage during the day. Due to the prevalence of foxes in country regions poultry must be securely penned at night.

This year I needed to use the existing poultry pens for my growing flock of geese which led me to the decision to create a new enclosure, but where? As my readers know I’m always looking for ways to recycle materials and my projects usually serve more than one purpose.

When we purchased this farm 17 years ago it already had an igloo garden shed frame. I bought a plastic cover to go over this igloo frame, with thoughts of having a hot house in the winter. Although I have a beautiful garden, I’m not good with pot plants. Even my seed raising beds are established directly in soil out in the larger garden. This shed sat idle, within my garden begging to be put to use.

Igloo garden shed

When my infant granddaughters came to live with us, the idea occurred to me that I should convert this igloo into a hen house where the little girls could feed the ‘chooks’ and gather the eggs.

Sawdust floor

The work was begun in February, when two young men from France, Thomas and David, members of the WWOOF organization spread a load of sawdust thickly across the floor of the pen.

Next I hired, Peter, a home handyman builder to construct a wire netting enclosure and build doors for the igloo and pen. I provided him with second-hand timber slats to be recycled as the doors.

Wooden doors

To the south of the igloo, against the garden fence I had established four Feijoa trees – Feijoa sellowiana - anticipating they would provide both an evergreen windbreak during the winter months and a crop of guava like fruit during the summer. They have served their purpose, producing a huge abundance of fruit, much of which rotted on the ground. Therefore I instructed Peter to build the ‘chicken run’ to enclose these trees. That meant we would be closing off one of my main pathways through the vegetable garden. Thus we needed three doors or gates. One to close off the hens into the igloo for night time safety, and another two at the western and eastern path entries to the pen.

Eastern entrance

Again it was wwoofers, including Jerry Kim from South Korea, who dug a hole to insert a small bath tub as a watering facility – another item recycled. There are bricks below the surface of the water to prevent hens drowning if they should fall into the water. They can easily hop from the bricks to the rim of the tub.

Water hole

As you can see, my efforts are all intended towards creating a natural environment for my hens. Although enclosed, I consider these to be free range hens.

Now it is possible to push a wheelbarrow of grass and weeds along the paths of the garden and enter from the door on either side to drop off a load of greens for the hens. Equally, I can walk from the kitchen each morning to throw in a bucket of household scraps.

Food scraps

When Peter finished the enclosure it was time for me to think about how I could furnish the igloo for the comfort of my hens.

Nesting boxes

More than thirty years ago, in the days when I attempted to grow pot plants, I had purchased this hard-wood stand to display my pots at my home in Dalby. It had moved with me several times to new locations, but now it serves a different purpose. For our Das Helwig Haus B&B commercial kitchen we buy our dish-washing detergent in large plastic containers. I had saved several of these empty containers and decided they would make ideal nesting boxes for my hens. The hens have agreed. Our hens have been laying for a couple of months, so I have ordered another six ‘point of lay’ pullets to have fresh laying hens when these mature hens decide it is time to take a break from productivity and moult their feathers. It is important to do this if one wants to have a regular supply of eggs for all seasons.

Nesting boxes

The next question was what should I use for a night time roost? Mostly, these are ladder like constructions that allow the hens to perch high above the ground. I’ve noticed that due to the pecking order common amongst poultry, that the top perch is always preferred. As I had plenty of space I decided that all my hens would be able to fly to the top perch. Amongst the useful items I have acquired over the years for recycling were three of the frames used in hospitals for bed tables.

Hospital bed table

I turned two of these hospital tables upside down and placed more wooden slats between their legs. Note these hens happily perched on their roost.

Hens roosting

But that is not all that I have recycled. When I found a Galah parrot in my garden, I noticed that she had a broken wing and would never be able to fly again. I knew that if I didn’t place her in a position of safety, my cat, Patches, would soon dispose of her as a tasty meal.

Previous location

Rosie now resides in a cage, on a recycled wooden table amongst the Feijoa trees. To provide her cage with a roof I recycled the base of an old wheelbarrow, turning it upside down.

Rosie and poultry

I have also installed hanging bird feeders to encourage a variety of birds to visit with Rosie. Flocks of Galahs flying past answer her call and some will stopover for a snack of cracked corn and sunflower seeds. Finches come for finer millet seed. Ever present during the flowering season of the Feijoas are the spine billed honey eaters and the little silver eyes. These birds provide an important service as the Feijoa flowers are not pollinated by bees, but require the attention of birds for cross pollination. Thus their presence ensures that once more this year I will have an abundant crop of Feijoa fruit. The excess will drop to the ground for the hens to enjoy.

Outside looking in.

The above photo was taken from outside the garden on the southern side, looking towards the new hen house. As you can see it blends smoothly into my garden environment.

From within the garden

On the terrace, immediately above the igloo, the hen house is visible from our guest accommodation, but it is not an eyesore. Like my grandchildren, our guests take pleasure in watching the hens going about their business of feeding and taking dust baths.

Children and chicken

During our recent Open Garden, when I led tour groups through our garden, the hens were temporarily enclosed within the igloo to allow admiring visitors to pass through the pen.

Petunias

Old wheelbarrows now do duty as recycled, raised garden beds for a display of summer petunias.

Book cover

Das Helwig Haus B&B owned by Eberhard and Fay Helwig is situated at Glen Aplin, near Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt of southern Queensland, Australia.

This is a region noted for Australian wildflowers, four wilderness National Parks and sixty wineries. In 1997 Eberhard and Fay established the Remembrance Field of red Flanders poppies, a European wildflower.

To obtain my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine email me at helwig@halenet.com.au The price is $33.00 posted to destinations within AustraIia. You may phone me on 07-4683 4227 if you wish to pay by credit card.

Internationally it is available on

http://stores.lulu.com/strictlyliterary

http://books.google.co.uk/

Technorati Tags: Australia, Chicken, Das Helwig Haus B&B, Feijoa, Glen Aplin, hens, igloo, Queensland, recycle, Wildflowers wilderness and wine, WWOOF

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