Cindy in Rhode Island sent us this picture of her Garden Coop build, all decked out for the holidays. The rest of this post comes directly from her: (more…)
Posts tagged with ‘Location’
Make It Your Own: Cindy’s “Hen Hilton,” Southern Rhode Island
Monday, December 26th, 2011Winter Chicken Coop Care, Part 3: Outfit your chicken coop for the winter.
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010This is the third in a four-part series on getting your chickens and coop ready for the winter.
Now we turn to the coop itself. In mild climates, chickens need only basic protection from the elements year round. If your coop keeps your hens dry and away from drafts, chances are you don’t need to make any special changes to it for the winter. If you expect temperatures to dip below freezing for a sustained time, you may want to take some added precautions to winterize your chicken coop: (more…)
Can I build The Garden Coop on a slope?
Monday, September 13th, 2010You can build The Garden Coop on a slope fairly easily because the frame of the chicken coop rests on piers. As long as your piers are tall enough on the lower end of the slope, you can use those to compensate for the height difference and keep the frame level. I recommend 16″ (400 mm) cinderblocks positioned vertically for this purpose. Our coop plans describe this in greater detail.
You also want to make sure that the hardware cloth is long enough to still be buried on all sides of the chicken coop by a foot or more. This is part of the process of making sure your chicken coop is predator proof and secure from tunneling critters. Again, our coop plans describe how to do this. If your slope is drastic, you can add some framing on the low end below the basic frame to help attach the hardware cloth to.
Above is a picture of a Garden Coop that Christine S. and her son built on a slight slope in their backyard near Seattle. The photo is a little grainy but should give you an idea of how to use the piers to keep the frame level. The picture below is of their finished chicken coop, wrapped with hardware cloth and chicken wire.
Have you used The Garden Coop chicken coop plans to build a coop on uneven ground? What worked for you, and what didn’t? Share your tips and suggestions below.
Make It Your Own: Lubosh Cech’s Hen Temple
Monday, August 30th, 2010
When Portland designer, filmmaker, and photographer Lubosh Cech was ready to build his own chicken coop, he wanted it to be a work of art. The Garden Coop chicken coop plans turned out to be the perfect place to start. Lubosh told us recently about the modifications he made to the design and how he gave his backyard coop an artful, personal touch:
Thank you for the plans! This was a fun project, and it successfully distracted me from my work for most of the month.
Because of the space limitations, I had to shorten the design and push the structure all the way to the corner of the yard. In addition to buying new lumber, I reused wood and other materials that cluttered my basement shop. Half of the paint I used is 100% recycled latex from Metro.
To make the structure more fun, I painted the Buddha on the front panel of the henhouse and decorated the roof with the Tibetan prayer flags. The Buddha is holding a golden egg over the nesting box access door.
Coincidentally, my three chicks moved in on July 6th, the Dalai Lama’s 75th birthday!
Here are a few more pictures of the Hen Temple. (more…)
Living on the edge
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
I’ve been thinking more about the Bjarke Ingels talk I posted about last month. You know, I almost can’t believe this now, but when we were building our first coop, I wanted to tuck it out of the way in a far corner of our yard.
Luckily, a friend of mine who’s into permaculture happened to come by at the right time and suggested that we move it closer to the center instead. He explained that one of the principles of permaculture is that life happens on the edges. When you create edges, as with a garden bed or structure, it opens up new possibilities for viewing, using, and organizing the space.
So don’t hide your coop. Show it off, and see where it leads you next. Think about things like vining plants, flowers, edibles, rainwater catchment, compost bin, tool rack, hammock or sitting area, clothesline, or even housing for other animals. Have any edgy ideas to share?
Some nice examples from our customers:
Click on an image to read more about each coop build.
Chicken TV
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009The neighbors’ new cat roams into our yard. She’s done this a couple times already as she’s been getting to know her surroundings. Our chickens are locked safe in their yard, well protected from much more vicious predators than this kitten. Yet while I know that, they don’t. Kitty edges closer. (more…)
