Karen and her family in Maine used our chicken coop plans to put together this Garden Ark for their backyard flock. She made a few modifications to suit her needs — using wider lumber for the skids, adding handles, and securing the bottom for complete predator protection. Read more and discuss »
As an early and active participant in Urban Chicken Advocates of Nashville, artist Megan Lightell helped with the push to make backyard chickens legal in Tennessee’s capital. And when the ordinance finally passed in early 2012, she celebrated right away by building her dream coop. The rest of this post comes directly from her. . . . Read more and discuss »
One of the nice things about The Garden Ark mobile chicken coop is that you can move it around your yard or garden to focus your chickens’ grazing activity where you want it — just roll it across your lawn or place it atop your vegetable rows.
But what if you prefer to garden in raised beds? How can you incorporate The Garden Ark into your garden rotation so that your hens can graze, till, and help fertilize your garden before or after harvest?
In this tutorial, I show you how to build a raised vegetable bed that fits The Garden Ark design perfectly. Read more and discuss »
In this tutorial, I show you how to make a clean, efficient nipple waterer for your chicks using a push-in poultry nipple and a couple of easy-to-find items. If you’d rather not do this yourself, you can purchase one of our ready-to-use Brooder Bottles here.
Anna and Chris’s modern Seattle home is topped with a striking barrel-vault roof. So why not build a chicken coop to match? After much research, a few sketches, plans and feedback from TheGardenCoop.com, the careful work of a local carpenter, and some personal touches, they got just what they wanted. The rest of this post comes from them. . .
I’m gonna miss hearing the “cheep, cheep, cheep. . . “ of baby chicks this spring. Our current backyard flock is still healthy and laying strong, so it could be another couple years before we get to raise another batch of chicks.
I’ll be ready for them, anyway.
The first time we raised chicks, we rigged up a large cardboard contraption as their brooder and kept them in the garage. It did the trick, and as new chicken owners we had a lot of excess energy to put into making it work. Daily cleanup was a process, and the final cleanup (dust everywhere) was even more involved.
This last go-round, we brooded them outside in the hen house of The Garden Ark, then graduated them to The Garden Coop hen house. That worked out really well, since keeping them outside also kept the dust outside.
But next time, the coops may still be occupied, so we’re gonna start them in one of these wire cage brooders that we now offer at TheGardenCoop.com. Take a look.
How do you brood your backyard chicks? What’s worked and not worked for you? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Marty and his son Corbin in Texas used The Garden Coop chicken coop plans as a starting point to build a beautiful backyard chicken coop — one that’s a good 60% larger than the original Garden Coop design. Marty was kind enough to share some photos and details, so if you’re looking to build a larger Garden Coop, here’s one way to go about it. Read more and discuss »
UPDATE: This discount code expired on 2/28/13. If you’d like to be notified of new posts as they happen, including sale announcements like this one, subscribe to Coop Thoughts. It’s free, ad-free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Keep your backyard chickens’ water clean and lasting longer between changes with one of our 3.5-gallon nipple waterers.
Through February only, save $5 on each waterer you order (3.5-gallon size only). Your waterer comes ready to use with lid, hooks, and changing base. Literally, just add water!
Click here to order. To get your discount, simply add a large waterer (or two, or more. . .) to your cart, then enter code FEB35.
Good through February 2013.
Susan and Ryan used The Garden Coop plans to build a chicken coop in the yard of their beautiful Vermont home. You can read all about their coop and home here. They were also kind enough to share some photos and notes on how they modified their Garden Coop to fit their needs — including adding a few solar LED lights. The rest of this post comes straight from them. Read more and discuss »
Linda and Robert sent in several photos of their beautiful backyard Garden Coop chicken coop, all suited up for the Wisconsin winter. The rest of this post comes straight from them. . . . Read more and discuss »
Deb and Donovan from near Seattle sent in several views of their backyard chicken coop build. Look at that flower box and window! They were kind enough to share some thoughts on their experience finding and building the right coop for their needs. The rest of this post comes from them. . . Read more and discuss »
My wife, Angie, has been doing these beautiful colored pencil chicken portraits over the past year or so. Now she’s chosen her five favorites and had them professionally printed as notecards.
We’re excited to offer sets of these chicken notecards (with matching envelopes) at TheGardenCoop.com. They make great gifts, thank yous, or notes for any occasion.
Hope you like them! Use discount code NEWCARDS for 10% off all our cards. Good through December 31, 2012.
They’re here! Our new chicken coop hardware Quick Kits for The Garden Coop and The Garden Ark let you build your backyard chicken coop even easier and faster.
In one box you get all the screws, staples, nuts, bolts, washers, nails, roofing screws, latches, hinges, braces, and more that you need to build your coop. All that’s left for you to shop for are the bulky items: wood, roofing, hardware cloth, pier blocks (Garden Coop), and stain/paint. Read more and discuss »
The Portland non-profit Growing Gardens is raffling off a brand-new, fully built Garden Ark chicken coop. This mobile coop was lovingly put together by myself and the participants of a chicken coop building workshop I led for Growing Gardens earlier this year. We took great pride and care in building it, and if I may say so, it’s really a sweet little coop! Read more and discuss »
I’ve been wanting to do a post showing off a bunch of the pictures I’ve received over the last several months, so in the tradition of the Carnival parades I grew up with in New Orleans, I present to you this first ride of the Krewe of Coops!
Feathers instead of flambeaux. Clucking hens instead of marching bands. Eggs instead of beads and doubloons. Just pull up a ladder, gather the kids, and shout wildly as the floats go by. . . Read more and discuss »
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