Brad’s Garden Coop build shows off a real attention to detail, especially on the siding around the hen house. It’s got a great color scheme — the green tone contrasting nicely with the natural cedar. Most importantly, it looks like Brad and his family had a lot of fun with the project. The rest of this post and photos come from him. . . Read more and discuss »
Merri-Lynn sent in this picture of her Garden Coop build in Tennessee. She worked on it with her daughter, who, as a big Hannah Montana fan, insisted on a bright color scheme. Merri-Lynn wrote:
We couldn’t be more proud of the way it turned out. It took a number of weekends to complete as we had to wait for additional hands for a few of the steps, but for the most part we completed it ourselves. The directions were easy to follow, and I would recommend that anyone can take on this project. Our chickens love their new home — color and all!
Thanks to Merri-Lynn for her picture and comments. If you like what you see, let her know with a reply below. And tell us, what colors are your chicken coop?
Matt Allison of Cape Town, South Africa has posted this article about being the first in his neighborhood to start keeping chickens, adding a flock of four to his growing backyard garden. If things trend the way they have in many of the neighborhoods I’m familiar with, his neighbors will soon be following his lead.
I owe Matt a debt of thanks for pushing me to complete the metric version of The Garden Ark plans. He worked with me to review measurements, materials, and process. And his suggestions will help others avoid mistakes that I never would have caught. Most importantly, his coop turned out great, as you can see by the coop pictures at his post. Thanks, Matt!
Where in the world are you building our chicken coop designs? Leave a comment and let us know.
Joy used The Garden Coop plans to build a backyard chicken coop at her Maryland home. She adapted the design by moving the henhouse to the right, moving the ladder entry to the side of the henhouse, adding insulated external nest boxes, and using foam closure strips with the polycarbonate roofing panels (these strips also come in wood). Below are a few of the pictures Joy sent in, along with her notes on how the construction went. The rest of this post comes from her. . . Read more and discuss »
Helmut and Karen sent in this photo of their beautiful Garden Coop build in Florida, along with a quick note (from Karen): ”Helmut said the plans were very clear and easy to use. He had a lot of fun making the coop with his 8-year-old grandson and son in law. We’re naming it ‘Helmut’s Hen House.’”
Thanks to Helmut and Karen for sharing a shot of their chicken coop. Want to keep up with what others are creating with our coop plans? Subscribe to Coop Thoughts.
For his second go-round with urban chickens, outdoor survivalist and bushcrafter Travis May worked from The Garden Coop chicken coop plans. Below are photos of his family’s completed backyard coop. You can also read Travis’s review of The Garden Coop plans at his website, StayWild.com.
As far as I know, Blair was the first to use our plans to build a Garden Ark in Australia. I’m very grateful to him, actually, for staying in touch throughout the process, advising me on materials available in Australia, and helping lay the groundwork for the new metric version of that plan. Read more and discuss »
When Indianapolis architect Donna Sink was looking for blueprints for a stylish backyard chicken coop, she chose The Garden Coop design plans and took it from there. She wrote to us recently to share her experience with The Garden Coop in Indy: Read more and discuss »
In case you’ve never happened on to it, John Henderson has curated one of the best lists of links to chicken forums, hatcheries, breed info, and resources for chicken health, care, and processing. It’s an excellent place for any small-flock chicken keeper to start.
Also included on his page are several links to early 20th-century books on chicken keeping, which make for fascinating reading. Everything old is new again, right? Bookmark Henderson’s Handy-Dandy Chicken Breed Chart as well for the next time you’re selecting chicks.
Brigitte and Max sent in this picture of their Garden Coop in sunny Davis, California. It’s a good example of how well a chicken coop — even a good-sized walk-in coop like The Garden Coop — can fit into a typical backyard.
I asked them about the finish on the wood, which came out really nice. “For the frame in fir I used a leftover deck sealer and stained the wood before we put the frame up,” Brigitte wrote. “The wood around the house is redwood, and we left it natural.”
Thanks, Brigitte and Max, for the photo and feedback!
Julie and Dave have a spacious yard in upstate New York and wanted to build their Garden Coop a little larger than what’s outlined in the plan. They made their coop a few feet wider by increasing the width of the three sections by a foot each. They added a couple feet in depth as well. And they moved the full-length people door from the front to the side of the coop. It came out great. Read more and discuss »
What can I say, I’ve always loved our chicken coop plans. But when I opened them recently on an iPad, well, I literally saw them in a whole new light.
The images are sharp and clear. The table of contents is clickable for easy navigation. You can zoom in and out on the diagrams and text. And you can perform all the page navigation gestures that are native to iBooks.
What’s more, you don’t need to download a special app (other than the free iBooks app) to be able to download, store, and view our coop plans — or any PDF file for that matter.
Just follow the simple instructions below, and have fun! Read more and discuss »
OMG. In case you were wondering just how extreme of conditions chickens can thrive in (with human help, of course), check out Lisa’s Garden Coop high in the mountains of Colorado. The rest of this post comes from her: Read more and discuss »
Our modern chicken coop designs have attracted the attention of the writers at The Well Daily, a website covering yoga, meditation, wellness, and nutrition. Check it out!
Note: The contest we ran with this post ended on April 2, 2011. Winning entries are noted below.
Think keeping backyard chickens is a little too old school? Here’s something that could change your mind.
The Pickin’ Chicken app for iOS lets you research and select breeds from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch (Apple mobile devices only). Developed by Funny Farm Industries and released in partnership with Mother Earth News, it’s a high-tech complement to a distinctly low-tech hobby.
It not only looks really cool (then again, I think everything in iOS looks cool), it’s also got some cool stuff in it. Read more and discuss »
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