In this eighth installment of the Krewe of Coops, we’re featuring a dozen examples of The Garden Coop backyard chicken coop design from all across the country. Enjoy! Read More
Tag: Nest Boxes
Make It Your Own: “Krewe of Coops” Virtual Chicken Coop Tour, No. 6 — Ten Chicken Coops Built with Salvaged Materials
Some of the most interesting chicken coops feature repurposed, recycled, or salvaged materials and decorations. Whether done for the sentiment, the looks, the environment, or simply to save money, incorporating available and found materials into your backyard coop will make it one of a kind. . . Read More
Make It Your Own: “Krewe of Coops” Virtual Chicken Coop Tour, No. 4 — A Dozen Larger Garden Coops
We’re blowing it up in this fourth ride of the Krewe of Coops, featuring a dozen examples of coops from customers who’ve modified The Garden Coop walk-in chicken coop design to build larger, wider, deeper, taller. Enjoy the parade! Read More
Make It Your Own: “Krewe of Coops” Virtual Chicken Coop Tour, No. 3
In this third ride of the Krewe of Coops, we feature The Garden Ark mobile chicken coop design, with several examples from around the U.S. Enjoy the parade!
Make It Your Own: Sandra and John’s Basic Coop Stand-Alone Chicken Coop, Layton, Utah
Sandra and John used The Basic Coop stand-alone chicken coop plans to build this home for their mixed flock of standard and bantam hens in Utah. They made a few modifications to suit their needs: Read More
Make It Your Own: Rob and Family’s California Chicken Coop + Goats
Rob S. and his family in Davis, California, used The Garden Coop walk-in chicken coop plans to build a more spacious coop for their flock of eight backyard chickens when they moved from the city to the outskirts. But chickens aren’t the only creatures in his family’s yard. “We have a mule, a donkey, and two sheep in the front pasture,” Rob says. And out back with the chickens. . . two Nigerian dwarf goats! Read on to see how they all get along. The rest of the story comes directly from Rob. . . . Read More
7 tips for building a garden-friendly chicken coop
In the urban or suburban garden, limited space, pests, wary neighbors, and the like can make the idea of keeping chickens seem like more hassle than it’s worth. But by designing and building the right kind of coop, you can quickly get past these hurdles and add a whole new dimension to your garden.
Here are seven tips to put your coop project on the right path. . . .
1. Let your chicken coop breathe.
A well-ventilated chicken coop helps keep your hens from suffering and your neighbors from complaining. Of course, you do need to stay ahead of any odors, making sure you balance out their poop with plenty of high-carbon bedding like straw, wood shavings, leaves, or shredded paper. We use the deep-litter method and continue to add straw as the chickens add droppings. This mixture begins to compost in place, and the volume builds only slowly. From time to time we move it all to a compost bin to finish doing its thing, then incorporate the rich fertilizer into the garden.
NOTE: The pictures in this post feature coops built by us and by customers of our chicken coop plans. Click on them to learn more about each DIY chicken coop build.
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Make It Your Own: Michael’s Seattle Backyard Chicken Coop with Cedar Siding and Windows
Michael and family in Seattle built a modified version of the The Garden Coop walk-in chicken coop to fit their backyard and needs. I particularly like the woodwork on this coop, like the tapers he cut into the ends of the purlins, the alternating corners on the siding, and the added depth and angle on the rafter tails. Michael sent us some great notes and several photos of their handiwork. Here they are: Read More