The installation
We build and install as one job.
The structure is half the work. The other half is the predator-proofing, the leveling on California's hillside lots, the ground prep that keeps a henhouse standing for fifteen years, and the small details that never show up in a render.
Self-installed kits fail at exactly these details, often within the first season. So we don't ship a kit and we don't sub the build out. We build and install as one job because they're one job.
Two installers leveling the run base on a graded gravel pad, charred cedar henhouse behind, morning light
How it goes
Three days at most, start to settled flock.
01
We visit
We walk your backyard, find the light, and confirm siting against your setbacks and the sun. We read the slope, the drainage and the soil before anything gets built.
02
We build
We build and install on site. Leveled on the grade you have, anchored, and predator-proofed end to end. Typically a day or two of quiet, careful work.
03
We settle the flock
We bring the hens, set the routines, and walk you through every latch and lid. The care begins the same day. You keep the morning gather.
What's included
In every install, without exception.
The same standard on every site, whether it's a flat city lot or a Marin hillside. None of it is an upgrade. All of it is just how we build.
Site assessment
We read the grade, the drainage and the sun, and confirm siting against your city setbacks before a single board is cut.
Ground prep
A proper base of crushed gravel and decomposed granite, graded for drainage so the henhouse stays dry, level and standing for years.
Predator apron, buried 18 inches
A hardware-cloth apron trenched and buried around the full perimeter, so nothing digs its way in under the cover of night.
Hardware cloth on everything
Half-inch galvanized hardware cloth on every opening, fastened, not stapled. Chicken wire keeps hens in. Hardware cloth keeps everything else out.
Full assembly
The complete build raised on your property: structure, run, roof, nest boxes, roosts and matte black hardware, all to one Modern Hen standard.
Final walkthrough
We hand it over in person. Every latch, every lid, the daily rhythm and the seasonal changes, so you start the first morning sure of the whole thing.
Macro: hardware-cloth apron being trenched and buried at the henhouse footing, matte black fasteners, soil and gravel
Why we do it
The details that don't show in a render.
A henhouse can photograph beautifully and still fail a raccoon, a wet winter or an uneven yard. What protects the flock is buried, trenched and leveled, and it's the part a kit leaves to you. We'd rather own it.
So every Modern Hen henhouse is built and installed by the same team, to the same standard, and we stand behind the whole thing because we did the whole thing.
Start with your backyard.
Book a quiet consultation. We'll talk through your space, your city's rules and how the install would sit on your particular lot.