Interactive lesson

Hen-house equipment, step by step

Interactive lesson: feeders, drinkers, nest boxes and a dust bath, then an automatic door, winter light, water heating and safe power in the hen house.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Feeders

The biggest feed loss isn't inside the hen but around her.

Lip at back height — Keep the feeder's lip at the height of the hen's back. Raise it as the birds grow.
Fill to a third — Fill a trough to a third, or as the feeder's instructions say. A full feeder means half the feed on the floor.
Under cover, not under the perches — The feeder stands under cover, where rain doesn't wet the feed, because wet feed goes mouldy in a day or two. Never under the perches, where droppings fall at night.
Grit, oyster shell, bin — Put grit and oyster shell for calcium in separate pots and don't mix them into the feed. Keep feed in a bin with a lid, and put it away at night if you have mice.

Why: Hens flick feed out with their beaks looking for the best bits. What falls is eaten by mice, rats and wild birds, which bring disease with them. A hen eats roughly 110–130 g (4–4½ oz) of feed a day.

A hanging tube feeder wastes little, but it must hang still and not swing.
If some hens chase the others away from the feed, put two feeders in different places.

2. Drinkers

Water matters more than feed.

Raise the drinker — Stand the drinker on a block or bricks, 15–20 cm (6–8 in) above the bedding, with its lip at back height. That keeps it clean.
Nipple bucket — Hang a nipple bucket so the hen drinks with her head slightly raised. The water stays clean, but in winter the nipples freeze.
In the shade, every day — In the sun the water gets warm and green with algae in summer. Rinse the drinker every day and scrub it with a brush every week: the slime at the bottom is a breeding ground for bacteria.
Two days' reserve — A 20 L bucket with 4 nipples lasts 10 hens 3–6 days. Strain rainwater from the roof through muslin and don't leave it standing in the sun for days.

Why: A hen without water stops laying within a day or two, and in hot weather she can die within hours. A hen drinks roughly 0.3 L of water a day, and double that in hot weather.

A bell drinker is cheap, but bedding and droppings fall in, so it needs washing every day.
Chicks get shallow drinkers with pebbles or marbles in the trough, so they can't fall in.