Synopses & Reviews
Build a safe, attractive, and cost-effective enclosure for your backyard flockWhether you have a small city loft, a suburban backyard, or a rural farm, this friendly guide gives you easy-to-follow and customizable plans for building a backyard chicken coop. You'll get basic construction know-how and key information to design and build a coop that's easy on the eyes and tailored to your flock.
Begin with chicken coop basics — determine the necessary features for your coop, add a few amenities, and choose the right location and size
Get set to build your chicken coop — figure out the gear and materials you need and get a crash course on basic carpentry skills
Dig into coop construction — prepare your coop's site, create your coop's skeleton, and include walls, doors, windows, and a roof
Add finishing touches — construct creature comforts for your flock, put together a run, and plug in with basic electricity
Check out all kinds of coops — follow materials lists, cut lists, and schematic drawings for five different chicken coops
Open the book and find:
The dirt on essential coop-building tools
The carpentry skills you'll need to construct like a pro
Tips for prepping the coop site
Guidance on adding walls, doors, windows, and a roof
Pointers on building roosts, nest boxes, ramps, and runs
How to add electricity to your coop
Helpful schematic drawings
Fun ideas to trick out your coop
Learn to:
Choose your coop's best location, size, and style
Gather the gear and materials you need to build a coop
Construct a coop from the ground up
Understand materials lists, cut lists, and illustrated plans
Synopsis
As the popularity of urban homesteading and sustainable living increases, it’s no wonder you’re in need of trusted, practical guidance on how to properly house the chickens you’re planning (or have already begun) to keep.
Building Chicken Coops For Dummies gives you the information you need to build the most cost-efficient, safe, and easy-on-the-eye enclosures for your backyard flock.
This practical guide gives you easy-to-follow and customizable plans for building the backyard chicken coop that works best for you. You’ll get the basic construction know-how and key information you need to design and build a coop tailored to your flock, whether you live in a small city loft, a suburban backyard, or a small rural farm.
- Includes detailed material lists, instructions, and schematic plans for building a host of different chicken coops
- Step-by-step guidance on how to build a coop—or design your own
- Accessible for every level of reader
Whether you’re just beginning to gain an interest in a back-to-basics lifestyle or looking to add more attractive and efficient coops to your current flock‘s digs, Building Chicken Coops For Dummies gives you everything you need to build a winning coop!
About the Author
Todd Brock: Todd Brock has written, directed, and produced more than 1,000 episodes of television programming. His shows on topics ranging from landscaping to home renovations to gardening have been broadcast nationally on major networks including HGTV, DIY Network, and PBS, and locally in one of the country's Top 10 TV markets.
As a freelance writer, Todd has researched and written about everything from mobsters to Pac-Man, and children’s stories to cheeseburgers. He lives in the Atlanta, Georgia, area with his wife, Debbie, and their two daughters, Sydney and Kendall.
Dave Zook: Dave Zook, his wife, Suz, and their four children, Justin, Jordan, Jenika, and Javon, live on several acres in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He is the founder/owner of Horizon Structures, a manufacturer of pre-built storage sheds, garages, horse barns, and chicken coops.
Dave and his family keep a small fl ock of chickens at home in one of his company's coops. He continues to improve the designs and develop new ones based on customer input as well as his family’s experiences with their own backyard fl ock.
Over the past nine years, Horizon's line of chicken coops has proven to be very popular with chicken fanciers — and their hens — throughout the U.S., with coops now in 48 states!
Rob Ludlow: Rob Ludlow, his wife, Emily, and their two beautiful daughters, Alana and April, are the perfect example of the suburban family with a small fl ock of backyard chickens. Like countless others, what started out as a fun hobby raising a few egg-laying machines has almost turned into an addiction.
Originally, Rob started posting his chicken experiences on his hobby Web site, www.Nifty-Stuff.com, but after realizing how much his obsession was growing, he decided to concentrate his efforts into a site devoted completely to the subject. Now Rob owns and manages www.backyardchickens.com, the largest and fastest-growing community of chicken enthusiasts in the world.
Rob is also the coauthor of the book Raising Chickens For Dummies.
Table of Contents
Introduction.Part I: All Cooped Up.
Chapter 1: Flocking to Your Own Chicken Coop.
Chapter 2: Beginning with Housing Basics.
Chapter 3: Gathering Your Gear.
Chapter 4: Deciding on Materials.
Chapter 5: Building Your Carpentry Skills.
Part II: Constructing a Coop.
Chapter 6: Preparing the Site.
Chapter 7: Laying the Lumber: Framing 101.
Chapter 8: Adding Walls, Doors, Windows, and a Roof.
Chapter 9: Building Creature Comforts.
Chapter 10: Assembling a Run.
Chapter 11: Plugged In: Basic Electricity for Your Coop.
Part III: Checking Out Coop Plans.
Chapter 12: The Minimal Coop.
Chapter 13: The Alpine A-Frame.
Chapter 14: The Urban Tractor.
Chapter 15: The All-in-One.
Chapter 16: The Walk-In.
Part IV: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 17: Ten or So Things Novice Coop-Builders Would Have Done Differently.
Chapter 18: Ten or So Cool Ideas to Trick Out Your Coop.
Index.