Building Chicken Coops For Dummies

by Todd Brock, David Zook, Robert T. Ludlow

Whether you have a small city lost, a suburban backyard, or a rural farm, this friendly guide gives you easy-to-follow and customizable plans for building a backyard chicken coop.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Construction

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Verona · Rating 4 out of 5]

My chicken coop past inspection and is now ready for inhabitants.this book was my 'bible'.it walked me through the building process step by step. i highly recommend it.I have never built anything, but with the help of my husband, neighbor, home teacher and this book, we made a really nice coop that i'm so proud of.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful. There were several things in it that I was glad to learn before we started building, being a novice at this. Our coop still isn't finished, but we know what to do and are glad to have this book to refer to when needed.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice clear instructions and how to build a chook house, and why things are done as they are. If you know nothing about building really good information on how to build a basic hen coop.

[Lady Saga · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Building Chicken Coops For Dummies", is just your average coop book like the hundreds already out there. My biggest pet peeve is that the book literally states. "Ventilation can be added after the coop is built on an as-needed basis, but it's obviously easier to incorporate it up front." Yet, their suggestions do not have adequate ventilation even for a northern coop. No mention of the open-air coops for milder climates or a Woods coop for the freezing regions. Windows should always be overhead and not at the same hight as roosts. Small details can make or break a coop. There are so many older books out there for good proven coops. Do not waste your time on this one. I recommend books like "Modern Fresh Poultry Houses" by Prince T. Woods. MD.

[Erica]

Skimmed through this for general pointers. We bought a kit, but this book seems to have something for everyone. It breaks down the building process into the most basic steps--making it possible for a novice, if they had enough time, money, and tools, to build a coop themself.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of information for the starting chicken owner with clear building plans and a lot of tips on housing and runs.

[Rob Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anybody who wants to build a first rate chicken coop and doesn’t have confidence in their building skills should read this book. I did and my coop came out great!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful, step-by-step guide.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gave me the confidence that I could actually built a chicken coop. Love that it had very detailed plans on 4 different designs, with materials needed and tools you might already own! Would recommend.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book only gives six detailed plans for chicken coops, however, it's possible to put pieces of each design together for a different coop. Still, more options or pictures of variations on the six plans would have been a nice touch.

[Terry Cottiers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Use for reference.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic info

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed, but easy to follow.

[Danielle Short · Rating 4 out of 5]

It didn't include a design in the size I want, but it has very detailed instructions for building coops.

[Tmulliga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome book. I'm handy but never really understood some of the complex carpentry concepts before reading it. Half the book is simple explanations of construction techniques and materials - nothing to do with chicken coops - and I loved it! I'm a manager at a software company without prior construction experience and I managed to create a beautiful chicken coop with no prior building experience. Highly recommended!