Synopses & Reviews
Easy-to-care-for, productive, inexpensive, and full of personality, chickens are popping up in backyards throughout the country—in the suburbs, rural towns, and even on city plots. All it takes to keep a small flock is a bit of land and a properly designed coop.
Just like houses, chicken coops come in all sizes and styles to meet the needs of any chicken family. Author Judy Pangman has combed the country identifying the top chicken coop designs, from utilitarian to high-style. The result is this ultimate collection of 45 building plans that are sure to meet the needs of any chicken owner.
The featured designs include basic easy-to assemble hoop houses, A-frames, and multi-storied wooden structures, as well as larger models for small commercial farms. There are also a variety of moveable coops that can be rotated around the yard, and low-budget coops constructed from found and repurposed materials.
Pangman shares inspirational and instructive stories about the participating coop designers/ builders. Enthusiastic communities of chicken-keepers have organized chicken tours in cities such as Seattle, highlighting the fun and fantastic imagination of some coop architect/builders. There are designs echoing the house styles of the neighborhood, as well as the most contemporary trends in architecture. Building a chicken coop offers a great outlet for any would-be architect who wants to stick to the miniature, scaled-down building!
A 16-page color section shows detailed photos of many of the featured coop plans, as well as some amazing kits and one-of-a-kind coops built from recyclables.
With its comprehensive building plans and chicken-laden stories, Chicken Coops is sure to inspire a sunny-side-up, no-yolks-barred attitude in all chicken owners who dream of building a bigger, better coop to house their flock.
Synopsis
Just like houses, chicken coops come in all shapes and sizes. Judy Pangman presents how-to drawings and conceptual plans for 45 coops -- from the strictly practical to flights of fancy -- guaranteed to meet the needs of every bird owner, however big or small your flock may be. Color photographs and innovative suggestions fill this encouraging guide, while lively anecdotes profile an array of coop builders and their various construction methods. Start building the coop of your chickens' dreams
Synopsis
Bring your chickens home to roost in comfort and style! Whether you're keeping one hen in a small backyard or 1,000 hens in a large free-range pasture, this delightful collection of hen hideaways will spark your imagination and inspire you to begin building.
Author and farmer Judy Pangman combed the country to select these 45 coops for housing both laying hens and meat birds (chickens or turkeys). The coops range from fashionable backyard structures featured in the annual Seattle Tilth City Chickens Tour and the Mad City Chickens Tour in Madison, Wisconsin, to the large-scale, moveable structures Joel Salatin has fashioned for Polyface Farm in Virginia.
You'll also find ideas for converting trailer frames, greenhouses, and backyard sheds; low-budget
alternatives for working with found and recycled materials; and simple ways to make waterers, feeders, and nestboxes. A gallery of color photographs provides other creative ideas to get you going. With basic building skills, a little elbow grease, and this book of conceptual plans, you've got all you need to shelter your flock.
About the Author
Judy Pangman and her husband, Frank Johnson, raise their two sons and grass-fed beef, pork, and eggs on their 200-acre farm in upstate New York. They are committed to sustainable agriculture, raising their animals naturally and cruelty-free and promoting a safe and healthy local food system. .
Table of Contents
Part 1 Providing Shelter: The BasicsChick Brooders 1
Brooder Basics 2
Feed and Water 3
Temperature 4
Ventilation . 4
Predator Protection 4
Chicken Coops 5
Feed and Water 5
Ventilation 6
Roosts 6
Nest Boxes 6
Predator Protection 6
Things to Consider When Designing Your Coop 7
Part 2 Coops for the City
Setting Hen Hut 10
San Miguel Coop 12
Bo & Friends Coop 16
Cézannes Garden Coop 19
Sun Coop 23
Megans Coop 27
Cottonwood School Coop 30
Oakhurst Community Garden Coop 33
Cordwood Chicken House 36
Little Red Henhouse 40
Seattle Tilth City Chicken Tour 43
Hi-Rise Coop 44
Poulet Chalet 47
The Cat House 51
Shake Your Tail Feathers Coop 55
Toolshed Henhouse 57
Starclucks Coop 61
Kids Garden Coop 65
Chicks n the Hood Coop 68
Mad City Chickens Tour 69
Part 3 Coops for Small Farms
Truck Cap Coop 74
Egg-loo 76
Beck-Chenoweth Broiler Skid 78
Caretaker Farm 80
Chicken Prairie Schooner 81
Sap Bush Hollow Farm 84
Sap Bush Broiler & Turkey Hoop 85
Sap Bush Turkey Roost 88
Sap Bush Chicken RV 90
Sap Bush Eggmobile 92
Sap Bush Brooder House 95
Our Farm CSA 98
Our Farm Broiler Pen 99
Soup Coop 101
A-Frame Henhouse 103
Chicken Greenhouse 105
Shiloh Farm and Retreat 108
Shiloh Mini Hen Retreat. 109
Shiloh Hen Retreat. 112
Shiloh Broiler Retreat. 116
Cotton Trailer Coop. 118
Sweet Tree Farm 122
Sweet Tree Birthday Coop 123
Coop de Grass 126
Winter Coop 129
Polyface Farm 133
Salatin Turkey Coop 134
Salatin Portable Broiler Pen. 136
Salatin Eggmobile 138
Salatin Raken House 141
Salatin Chick Brooder 144
Winter Laying-Hen Hoop House 146
Salatin Feathernet System. 148
Part 4 Cool Coops
Selected Coops 151
Inspiring Coops 156