About
The henhouse is the start. The care is the work.
Most people want the morning gather. Few want the chores that come with it. We built Modern Hen to hold the second part, so the first stays a pleasure.
A real backyard at dawn, henhouse anchored in the left third by a garden wall, horizon level, a person walking out with a basket, soft light
We design and build henhouses, and then we tend them. That second part is the whole idea. A henhouse is easy to buy and easy to neglect, and a neglected flock is nobody's idea of a good morning. So we made the ongoing care the center of the company, not an afterthought bolted on at checkout.
The work starts with your backyard and your city's rules. We pull your local ordinance, walk the space, find the morning light and site the henhouse where it belongs. Then we build to a single considered standard: a charred cedar exterior that weathers slowly, a warm cedar accent face, matte black hardware that disappears. We don't offer a catalogue of finishes, because the right one is already decided. Restraint is the point.
Once the flock is settled, a concierge who knows hens visits on a schedule you set. We handle the feed, the cleaning, the seasonal changes and the health checks, with a vet line when something needs a closer look. You keep the eggs, the quiet, and the small daily ritual of opening the door.
The relationship is where we get better. Every visit teaches us something about keeping hens well in this climate, on this kind of lot, through this season. We record it, and the next backyard is the better for it. The care is what compounds.
We work across the Bay Area, for people who care how things are made and would rather not manage one more thing. The promise is simple, and we keep it plainly: backyard hens, without the burden.
What we hold to
Three commitments shape every henhouse and every visit.
01
One standard
The same finish on every henhouse, from Nest to Sanctuary. Quality you don't have to specify.
02
The care is the company
We're judged on the hundredth morning, not the first. The membership is the relationship.
03
Honest first
We start with your ordinance and tell you plainly whether this is right for your space.
The productive backyard, in pictures.
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Our feed lands here once we start posting. Until then, the journal has plenty to read.
Start with your backyard.
Book a quiet consultation. We'll talk through your space, your city's rules and whether keeping hens is right for you.