In this twelfth ride of the Krewe of Coops, we tour a half dozen coops built using The Garden Coop backyard chicken coop plans and customized for the cold.
(more…)Posts tagged with ‘Winter’
“Krewe of Coops” Virtual Chicken Coop Tour No. 12 — Six Wintertime Garden Coops
Sunday, December 22nd, 2019Make It Your Own: Ralf’s Automated Chicken Haven, Kitzingen, Germany
Sunday, December 9th, 2018
Ralf used our plans for The Garden Coop walk-in chicken coop as a starting point for his fully insulated and highly automated chicken coop. The result is both beautiful and functional — and from the sound of it, a lot of fun to put together. The rest of this post comes directly from him. . .
Winter’s coming!
Friday, October 26th, 2018
Winter is on the way in the Northern Hemisphere. These 3 resources will help you get your coop and flock ready for the coming season:
- Chicken Keeping Buyer’s Guide – This is our selection of curated links to tools, materials, accessories, books, and art that make coop building and chicken keeping easier and more fun. Specific to cold weather, the guide points you to options for adding light to the coop and heat to your chickens’ waterer (and henhouse, if needed). Have ideas to add to the list? Please let me know.
- Winter Coop Care Series – This four-part series is our go-to reference for how to prepare your coop and flock for the winter. Please add any tips directly to the comments sections of those posts.
- All of our “winter”-themed posts – See everything we have that’s winter-related, including a many coop profiles from customers who’ve built our designs in some fairly cold and some truly extreme environments.
Happy wintering!
Make It Your Own: “Krewe of Coops” Virtual Chicken Coop Tour, No. 6. . . 10 Garden Coops Built With Salvaged Materials
Thursday, April 13th, 2017
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. . . (more…)
How to heat your chickens’ nipple waterer in the winter
Wednesday, November 25th, 2015
Just a quick post to share what we did last winter to keep our chickens’ nipple waterer from freezing. We bought an immersible birdbath heater (see our Buyer’s Guide for more details). Because the element rests at the bottom of the bucket, near the nipples, the warmth not only kept the nipples from freezing, but also kept any drops that formed on the outside of the nipples from freezing. (more…)
Make It Your Own: “Krewe of Coops” Virtual Chicken Coop Tour, No. 2
Wednesday, January 28th, 2015
It’s time again for the Krewe of Coops, a celebration of what people have been building with our chicken coop plans. This time, we’re featuring The Garden Coop design exclusively, with nine fantastic examples from across the U.S. and one from Australia. So gather your feathered friends, find a comfy perch, and enjoy the parade!
Make It Your Own: Bill and Chris’s Massachusetts Garden Coop
Wednesday, July 16th, 2014
Bill and Chris in Southeastern Massachusetts built a beautiful chicken coop using The Garden Coop plans. They sent us some nice pictures and a detailed description of all they did to make it their own. The rest of the post comes directly from Chris. . . . (more…)
Make It Your Own: Nate’s Winterized Wisconsin Garden Coop
Saturday, February 15th, 2014
With extremely cold weather dipping into the U.S. this winter, I thought I’d share some detailed notes I got from a customer in Galesville, Upper Wisconsin. He’s taken several steps to winterize his Garden Coop and reports that his flock of seven has stayed active, healthy, and laying — even as the mercury dips to 20 below. Read on to see what he’s done. The rest of this post comes directly from Nate. . . (more…)
Make It Your Own: Linda and Robert’s Garden Coop, Juneau, Wisconsin
Friday, January 18th, 2013
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. . . . (more…)
Make It Your Own: Karen’s Connecticut coops
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Karen sent in these pictures of her Garden Coop and Garden Ark chicken coops in Connecticut. (You may recall this post from a while back that featured a photo of her dog guarding her backyard coop.)
There are a number of reasons you’d want to build both coops: expanding your flock, giving your hens added mobility to graze safely, optional space to house broody hens or deal with personality conflicts (it happens!).
Besides, don’t they just look great together?
Here’s what Karen had to say about her coops:
I have a lot of friends who come over to see our chickens and just love The Garden Coop design. We are planning on adding on the exterior egg boxes this spring. We also built The Garden Ark for our two silkie hens who were having trouble getting along with the chickens in the big coop. I added a little door on the right side so they could have quick access to the yard. They are very happy and the coop is perfect for them. Thanks!
Thanks to Karen for sharing pictures of her chicken coops. Like what she’s built? Leave a comment below. And check out her portrait photography.
How to wrap your chicken coop for the winter
Friday, November 25th, 2011
For the past few winters, I’ve wrapped our Garden Coop in plastic sheeting to keep driving rain and snow (mostly rain here in the Pacific Northwest) out of the run area.
I’d love to say I do this for artistic reasons, à la Christo, but it’s really all about practicality. Plastic film is inexpensive, easy to put up, and keeps your hens dry and happy. And in the spring, you can just take it down, roll it up, and store it out of the way.
There are other solutions, of course — sheet siding, acrylic panels, canvas, landscape fabric. Let me know in the comments what has worked for you. (more…)
Make It Your Own: Joy’s Maryland Garden Coop
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…)
Make It Your Own: Donna’s Garden Coop (Indianapolis, Indiana)
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…)
Make It Your Own: Lisa’s High-Altitude Garden Coop
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…)
Goodbye, winter.
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.
