Reinventing the Chicken COOP: 14 Original Designs with Step-By-Step Building Instructions

Why settle for functional when you can have fabulous?

Your backyard chickens need a coop to call home, and you want a structure that not only keeps your hens safe and comfortable but also looks great. You'll be delighted by this collection of 14 contemporary designs, including the simple Chick-in-a-Box, a Modern Log Cabin, the multi-use Kippen House Garden Roof Chicken Coop, and the intriguing Coopsicle. Choose the one that's perfect for your home and yard and then build it yourself with the complete step-by-step instructions. Your chickens will love it, and you'll love what the structure adds to your property!

"Bay area artisans Wolpe and McElroy, whose coop was Editor's Choice for Design at the Bay Area Maker Faire, dish the complete scoop on the coop for those just starting the yard-chicken journey or for experienced woodcrafters longing to bring chickens to their back-porch scene. Readers just getting their claws wet in chicken shelters will start with the basics of how many square feet per fowl, bedding, and waste disposal, beginning with A-frame and square nesting boxes that can be built in a weekend. Various living situations (urban, suburban, and country) are addressed as instructions are provided for confined housing with an attached run and open housing within a fenced run, with degree of difficulty warnings. Multipurpose issues (water-catching roofs, composting the coop, and a green-roof garden) are addressed for all levels of the DIY-er. In order to keep chickens without alienating the neighborhood, chicken-raisers can add some 'bwawk' to their block with log cabins or the 'Cupe,' a mid-century modernist design suitable for front yard art. 'Stoop Coop'' can double as a small staircase or a sitting spot, to add some poultry to the garden party. Chicken-raising instructions not included, but full-color photos and illustrations are." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Backyard chickens meet contemporary design! Matthew Wolpe and Kevin McElroy give you 14 complete building plans for chicken coops that range from the purely functional to the outrageously fabulous. One has a water-capturing roof; one is a great homage to mid-Modern architecture; and another has a built-in composting system. Some designs are suitable for beginning builders, and some are challenging enough for experts. Step-by-step building plans are accompanied by full-color photographs and detailed construction illustrations.

Matthew Wolpe and Kevin McElroy are the owners of Just Fine Design/Build, a company that produces original pieces of furniture and small structures. In 2010, they designed a chicken coop called “Chick in a Box” that went on to win an Editor’s Choice award for design at the Bay Area Maker Faire and was featured on theMake Magazineblog, theFarmhouse Modernblog, and theTreehuggerblog. Kevin lives in Oakland, CA.

Matthew Wolpe and Kevin McElroy are the owners of Just Fine Design/Build, a studio that produces original handmade furniture and small structures. In 2010, they designed a chicken coop called “Chick in a Box” that went on to win an Editor’s Choice award for design at the Bay Area Maker Faire and was featured on theMake Magazineblog, theFarmhouse Modernblog, and theTreehuggerblog. Matthew also is a Senior Mechanician for Furniture and Carpentry at the University of California Berkeley's College of Environmental Design and teaches woodworking at The Crucible, a non-profit arts school in Oakland. Both authors live in Oakland, CA - Matthew in a 120-square-foot tiny house he designed and built.

 

Preface

The Basics

Chicken Coop Essentials

Coop-Building Basics

Coop Projects

Two Simple Classics: The Standard and the A-Frame

Stoop Coop

Modern Mobile Coop-Tractor

Icebox

Modern Log Cabin

Chick-in-a-Box

SYM

Corner Coop

Kippen House Garden Roof Chicken Coop

Pallet Coop

Coopsicle

Cupe

Container Coop