Posts tagged with ‘The Garden Coop’
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
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?
Tags: Paint, Tennessee, The Garden Coop
Posted in Coop Aesthetics, Make It Your Own | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
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. . . (more…)
Tags: Nest Boxes, Predators, The Garden Coop, Winter
Posted in Make It Your Own | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
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.
Tags: The Garden Coop
Posted in Make It Your Own | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
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.
(more…)
Tags: Reviews, The Garden Coop
Posted in Make It Your Own | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
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: (more…)
Tags: Indiana, Seasons, The Garden Coop, Winter
Posted in Architecture, Make It Your Own | No Comments »
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
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!
Tags: California, The Garden Coop
Posted in Make It Your Own | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
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. (more…)
Tags: New York, The Garden Coop
Posted in Coop Construction, Make It Your Own | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011
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! (more…)
Tags: Apps, iPad, The Garden Ark, The Garden Coop
Posted in Coop Plans, Just for Fun | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
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: (more…)
Tags: Colorado, Seasons, The Garden Coop, Winter
Posted in Coop Construction, Just for Fun, Make It Your Own | 5 Comments »
Monday, March 28th, 2011
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!
Tags: Articles, The Garden Coop, The Well Daily
Posted in Just for Fun | No Comments »
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
It’s spring again! And Karen in Connecticut writes:
We had a horrible winter here in Connecticut, but our chickens did very well. I wrapped the bottom part of the coop with heavy plastic to keep out the wind (suggested by you) and have just taken it off, as it us finally getting warmer. We are planning on adding on the exterior egg boxes this spring.
Thanks to Karen for sharing her photo. Like it? Check out her portrait photography.
Tags: Seasons, The Garden Coop, Winter
Posted in Just for Fun, Make It Your Own | No Comments »
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
Whether you’re building The Garden Coop, The Garden Ark, or pretty much any other chicken coop, the instructions that follow will show you in detail how to add external nesting boxes to your coop.
First, a little background. I designed The Garden Coop and The Garden Ark to make efficient use of space, be easy to build, and to have everything under one roof — including the nesting boxes. Personally, I prefer the simplicity of having the boxes in the henhouse, and it has worked well for us and many others for years.
So if you’re new to chicken keeping or coop building, please do not feel as though you have to add exterior nest boxes to your coop.
That said, there’s something about external nesting boxes that just captures the fancy of backyard chicken keepers. . . . (more…)
Tags: Add-ons, Materials, Nest Boxes, Paint, The Garden Ark, The Garden Coop, Wood
Posted in Coop Aesthetics, Coop Construction | 35 Comments »
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
The Portland-based website Neighborhood Notes has another good article, this one focused on how to best incorporate recycled materials into your chicken coop project.
I’m quoted in it, but what I’m more excited about is that they reached out to a local chicken keeper who used The Garden Coop plan as a foundation for his coop. He also made use of lots of recycled building materials including windows, hardware, and paint. The photo here is one he sent me when he finished.
One of the main things I emphasized is something I’ve heard from many who’ve used our plans — that having a complete materials checklist to start with makes finding recycled materials so much easier. Check out the article for more pictures and ideas.
Have you used any recycled materials in your chicken coop? Let us know in the comments!
Tags: Articles, Materials, Sustainability, The Garden Coop
Posted in Coop Construction, Sustainability | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 7th, 2011
I just spotted this article with good tips for new chicken keepers. It features advice from Robert and Hannah Litt of Portland’s Urban Farm Store, authors of the upcoming book A Chicken In Every Yard.
Also in the article is a photo of a beautifully built Garden Coop, right in the front yard of someone’s Portland home (not mine!). Of course, I think it fits in perfectly. Take a look.
Tags: Articles, Chicks, Portland, The Garden Coop, Urban Farm Store
Posted in Books | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Several weeks ago, Andreas Känner surprised me with photos and details on his Garden Coop build in Landesbergen, Germany. As far as I know, this is the first Hühnerhaus built in Germany using our metric chicken coop plans. Andreas did an amazing job, and I’m happy to share his photos and commentary here. . . (more…)
Tags: Chicken Breeds, Cleaning, Germany, Metric, Seasons, Sound, The Garden Coop, Winter
Posted in Make It Your Own | 1 Comment »
