Empty Hen Haven

I decided to take photos of my Hen Haven tonight, which might be the last photos I take of my creation that has evolved over the last eight years! 

Last evening I re-homed my last four hens, which was very difficult but still worth the sacrifice of going back to New Hampshire to our own beautiful new haven! The new owner of our home did not want the chickens but still wanted my hen haven. So, it was time to initiate cleaning everything up. 

I found it difficult to head out there this evening, knowing it was now empty with no hens to greet me and beg me for treats! They would get so excited when they saw me heading over! It’s amazing how addictive raising chickens is! I just love them! 

All food has been removed from the feeders. The oyster shell calcium and grit have also been removed, as well as drinking water. The dirty shavings have all been removed. I grabbed the last three eggs that they laid yesterday. 

The two electrical LED lights have been removed as I plan to use them in my new hen haven in New Hampshire either later this summer or next spring. I had them on a timer to turn on from 5 am to 8 pm daily as my gals truly enjoyed getting up early, before sunrise! I grabbed the timer as well, and then disconnected electrical power to the run area. The water bucket and water basin have been washed and are drying. I have a fair amount of feed and shavings left over and I will offer them to my neighbor, who also has chickens. 

I also went through all of my chicken supplies and threw away about one third of it. Then I separated all remaining items that I plan to keep and take with me from what I plan to leave behind for the new owner. The only tasks remaining are to box up what I plan to take and wash everything down well inside my hen haven! My last chicken-related duties for now; that is, until I have chickens again! I will miss the fresh eggs and cringe at the thought of buying either store-bought eggs or eggs from someone else who had chickens! But, at least I have enough eggs to last us a couple of weeks! 

Well, here are, potentially, the final photos of my Hen Haven!

My feeding station equipped with rat-proof feeders that hold a ton of feed! The hens learned to step on the pad to open the door to the feed! They are now empty for the first time in years! There is a metal pan underneath to catch any food that spills. It has a cover that has a metal frame with half-inch hardware mesh that allows spilled food to enter into the pan. This prevents any rodents from being able to access spilled food. Since the pan and cover are all metal, rodents can’t chew their way through to get the feed! I purchased the metal pan and made the cover after purchasing the materials to make it. Fun project! 

Water bucket and basin are drying after being washed. 

The dust bath area has been emptied. No more dust bath material (mix of sand and diatomaceous earth). 

My hen condo! On one side is a table that I can release to lower and use! 

Chicken swing and another little chicken house, called the Hen House! The green chicken house used to be home to my ducks. After I decided not to raise ducks anymore, I built a frame to set the duck house up higher, where chickens prefer to be. Prior to this, it was on the ground since ducks need low level housing since they’re not good climbers! 

A look at my feeding and water stations! 

Hen condo! 

Another view of the Hen House; previously the duck house! 

Door to the hen condo where I can access it for cleaning. 

I built this door that slides through the tracks to open and close with the attached rope. I am able to open and close the door from outside my Hen Haven! This was a fun project too! 

The Chicken House that includes a nesting box that I built so I could access the eggs from outside Hen Haven! My gals loved this area for laying their eggs! 

Extra lighting that is solar powered with this nifty solar power station! 

The nesting box that I built to add onto the Chicken House! Love my sign on the right, too! 

View from the back of Hen Haven! 

This is the back of the dust bath station (right) and where I stored the feed (left). In between there used to be a door that led to a pool for my ducks! It was a pond insert and that had a sand filter to help keep the water clean! It was all fenced in with fencing over the top to keep predators out. My ducks loved it! 

Here’s what the little duck pool looked like when it was there! It also had a drain attached to PVC pipe that ran out into the woods to divert water away from the area when the pool needed to be emptied for cleaning! This was a fun project, too! Miss my ducks but not the added work! Chickens alone are much easier! 

I built this small chicken house to use for introducing new chickens into an existing flock. I also used it as a hen hospital for sick or dying chickens. 

And I once had a hen that kept getting broody; wanting to lay on eggs constantly! Unfortunately, with no rooster around, there was no way those eggs were ever going to hatch! But she was going to try to hatch them! Broody hens generally stop laying eggs when they’re in that state. To break her from broodiness, I used to move her in here so she couldn’t access the eggs to lay on them 24/7! She made it very difficult to retrieve the eggs each day! After a few days of having no access to eggs, she would stop being broody for a while and she would start laying eggs again. But, she had numerous broody cycles in her lifetime and she had to go in here each time! Poor little gal! All she wanted was to hatch eggs and be a mama! She would have been a great mama too! She was so sweet! She was an Easter Egger who laid blue-green eggs and this breed is prone to broodiness! 

This is where I used to keep it; over the feeding station! 

This was broody Lizzy! 

Side view of Hen Haven:

My son installed a water line down to Hen Haven for me! I got years of good use out of it, especially when I had my duck pool! So handy not to have to run 100 feet of hose every time I needed to refill the duck pool after cleaning it! I couldn’t use it during the winter months but I also did not keep the duck pool going during the winter months either. 

Empty feeders for the first time in years!

This was a fun project too! I built this extension that slid out so I could hang the water bucket with chicken nipples and slide it into place! I accessed it from outside Hen Haven! It saved my back over the years! LOL! So much easier! 

This is how it works! Metal track! 

My system for refilling the water basin. When I had my ducks, they relied on this because ducks need to submerse their heads often to clean out their nostrils and because ducks just love water! I also had the water bucket with chicken nipples. After I decided not to raise ducks anymore, I could have eliminated the water basin but my hens were so accustomed to it that I just decided to keep it going for them! They were so spoiled! LOL! 

Nesting area with no shavings for the first time. So sad! 

I had fun building little access doors where helpful! 

I’m going to miss my nesting box! I designed this and built this from scratch! 

More access doors that I built! This was purchased initially as a dog house. It only had an opening on the other side for a dog. I added this wide door with window so I could access it for cleaning! And I built a larger door into the fencing to access the the door itself! 

I also added the window on the right, on the front of the “dog house!” And I added a plastic doggie door that could be closed on freezing, windy winter nights to block the wind and keep things a bit warmer! 

Back to the Hen Condo that I built all by myself! 

Cleaned out the dust bath today! This was a fun project to build this! 

Hen Condo! 

Solar light system! You can charge a cell phone using this system! There’s a USB port for this! I might have to take this with me! Seriously thinking about it! LOL! 

I’m going to miss this sign! I might have to take this with me too! LOL!