Dammit, I had to buy stuff...

Work on the hen house is proceeding well. Having gathered most of the materials from various places, and all for free, it came as a bit of a shock to actually have to pay for something!
But the scavenged guttering, and drainpipe, needed fixing in place and no fixings could be found so I decided that I would go and buy the few bits I needed.
3 gutter clips, 1 pipe clip, 3 gutter end stops, and an end piece to join the gutter to the pipe. About £13. But the gutter needs to be trimmed... Add a hacksaw for £4. Tools are always a longer term investment, so I'm not counting that cost against the hen house build costs. I'd already included the gutter fixings in my original house cost tally of roughly £30.

That's the hen house, all painted and ready for the guttering. The pallet at the side is the start of the run, and will be turned the other way up, trimmed and attached to the house before being covered with wire mesh. More on the mesh in a moment.

Guttering in place, and drinking trough working! One of the few times I actually wish it would rain so the system can be tested properly. I've poured a watering can full of water over the roof and it works! The water runs into the gutter, down the pipe, and catches in the trough at the bottom. There was a slight leak/overspill at one end but a piece of pond liner stopped that, and protects the hinges on the nest box too.
Today I've used a length of roofing baton to make a perch inside the house, and some offcuts to make a ramp from a piece of scaffolding board for the front. 
So, the hen house is finished and ready for occupation, except there's no run....
Wilkinson's have had a sale.
Wire mesh: 25mm netting; 600mm high, 10m long. £1.25 per roll. 5 rolls (all they had on the shelf) Thank you very much.
Now to make the frame for the run, add the wire netting, maybe look at some of the stronger stuff for the bottom layer, and it'll be good to go!
So far, with the netting, it's looking like £35 for materials. But I'm going to need some hinges and a bolt/catch for a door into the run. It'll be more like £40 all in, I think.

The nest box leaks.

The hen house is finished, and painted. But the nest box leaks just a little bit where the roof drips onto the back of the nest box lid.
Once the guttering is on that should stop, or I may need to fit a hinge cover or something. My Dad helped my kids make me a couple of bird boxes last year and they have some sort of rubbery stuff nailed on as hinges for the box lids - so you can get in to clean, or check for occupation. That would work... I wonder if he has any left?

For now the nest box is covered with some waterproof stuff, until I can get the gutter clips and fixings.
Highlight of today, which is cold and wet, was taking the veg peelings out to the compost bin, lifting the lid and seeing the sheer volume of crawling things scurrying around in there. I have 2 compost bins - those plastic Dalek type ones - and the one I'm filling at the moment is settling down well, feels nice and warm when I lift the lid, and today is noticeably crawling with woodlice, slugs, worms, beetles, and who knows what else. It's filled with life breaking down the contents into what will be lovely rich compost.

Hen house build complete - ish.

OK, so the guttering and drinking water system isn't done yet, and it needs wood preserving stain painting on, which needs a dry couple of days... But it's pretty much done!
The rear access door is fitted, with a support for when it's open so it doesn't over strain the hinges.

Access door closed - it'll need a catch of some sort on the left side for added security, and the hasp on the right will need a peg or padlock, depending on how secure I decide I want it to be. The door opens from the top down and it's really quite heavy so I've made a frame to support it when open. It seems to work ok.

There you go, access door open, resting on the support. An added bonus is that I'll have somewhere to rest bedding or a bucket for cleaning out. The hens will have plenty of room in there, and I'll be making a perch to go in there too - a free standing one that I can take out to scrub now and then. Having had hens before, the perches can get disgusting!
After the rain we've had I'm waiting for the hen house to dry out properly, and a couple of dry days after that to get out there and paint it all with the wood preserving stain. At some point over the next couple of weeks I'll pick up the fixings for the guttering and sort that out too.
Then it's on with the run!
The hens can't free range in the garden here, it's just not safe, or fair to my neighbours who have, between them, several dogs, gardens full of veg, fruit, and flowers, and one who is scared of birds. So, my hens will stay securely penned. They'll have plenty of space, fresh air, and sun weather, and I'll make sure they get all the garden weeds and pests they can handle, but they'll stay in the pen.

Starting to plan the run.
The hen house is 4 feet wide, without the nest box, and that's where the run will start, widening from the house out in a sort of wedge shape. The straightest side will run parallel to the fence on the left and will be 4 pallets long and by the time it reaches where the garden drops away (the end of the hen area) it'll be 3 pallets wide (tripling in width from the hen house end)
It's going to be a massive run for them, when we get them. I'm still deciding whether I want 3 or 4? And how tall do I want the run?

A hen house for £30.

The scaffolding is gone, the drainpipe has been reattached, the TV signal is back (blocked by the scaffolding), and the roofers asked if I wanted any more pallets, and could I use the broken ridge tiles?
Oh Yeah!
The broken ridge tiles are a curved, half cylinder piece - not intact but still plenty of room and curve on the large bits I kept. I'm keeping them for a pond project, they'll be fab for wildlife hidey holes near the edge of the pond. Might put some in the hen run for fun too.
Why are you laughing? Hens like fun too! I've had hens before and they do enjoy different height things to scratch round and peck at, and it helps them establish a strong flock pecking order. Different levels of things in the run also helps them keep their feet out of the mud when it rains.
Today is the first day of the summer holidays, the kids are at home - or out with friends, or being anti-social in their bedrooms.... and the sun is shining. Time to get out the power tools and get cracking with the hen house. I'd already placed the roof tiles and batons but not fixed them into place.

Three supporting batons running from the tall side by the fence to the lower side over the nest box, with 2 pieces of overlapping reclaimed roof membrane for extra waterproofing and insulation over those, and then 4 batons running across the supports to hold the tiles in place.
A recent trip out produced a length of guttering and a drainpipe that I can cut to size and fit to stop the tiles dripping onto the nest box. The drainpipe will take rainwater from the roof down into a container for the hens to drink.

It's not the size I was looking at getting but it was free! I'll need to find, or buy, the clips to fix the guttering and pipe in place, and a connector bit to fit the pipe to the gutter. But that'll happen at some point before the run is attached, after the wood preserving stain goes on. In the meantime I'm working on the roof, and then the back of the house - which is still open and needs a door - and the ramp.

The featherboard cladding is going on round the edges of the roof, with mesh cut from a reclaimed trampoline net being used to fill the gaps for ventilation - hens need plenty of ventilation.
The roof is really working, and I've been irrationally pleased with it. Having put the tiles in place to protect the membrane and batons, the inside of the house is staying nice and dry, apart from the back, which is open. But, it works, it really works, and I made it! I'm loving the lack of expenditure too.
Costs so far:
Screws and other fittings = about a tenner I think, might be £15. I've sourced everything as cheaply as possible and haven't kept definite track of the cost of each piece so far.
The wood preserving stain was £5.99 and was bought for the pallet planter project, but with other jobs in mind.
So, about £20ish so far, and I don't think I'll need anything other than the gutter fittings to finish the hen house. Those should be about another £10 if I get them new.
£30 for a spacious, solid, posh-looking, hen house? That'll do nicely.