My top recommendation for chicken coop building is "Hentopia" by Frank Hyman, but this book does have good information written in a simple style. "How to Build Chicken Coops" was written for the FFA organization (originally Future Farmers of America) and has been reprinted by Quarto.

The authors spend a fair bit of time on building codes and laws pertaining to predator control. These are good points. You don’t want to be ticketed for raising chickens where they are prohibited, nor do you want to go to prison for hurting a raptor, even if it is completely by accident.

I found the writing ponderous and unsatisfying. I don't recommend buying the book.

Chickens are a farmyard staple and are increasingly common within city limits as a backyard hobby and a source of fresh eggs. But when adding any animal or livestock to the family, there are bound to be a bounty of questions and decisions leading up to the acquisition of the new arrivals.

How to Build Chicken Coops provides a fantastic starting point for preparing to add chickens to your yard. The first part of the book touches on all of the smaller details that a novice chicken raiser might overlook, such as location and orientation of the coop, materials used in and out of the coop, water and food, and much more. The book then provides a basic blueprint and step-by-step instructions for building a general-use coop and run for about 3 chickens. While this may not be the “grand palace” of coops, it is extremely customizable and information on how to expand or alter the plan are included, so that you can make the structure work for your needs.

I really enjoyed this book. While I wish there had been a couple of additional plans for building coops, the provided plan seemed like a fantastic starting point for building beginners, such as myself. If you have experience woodworking or in construction, this book may not be very useful for you. However, if you are encouraging younger children to assist in the building process, the pictures and simple safety reminders made this book a great opportunity to work through the construction process with younger chicken-eers.

Having never built a chicken coop myself, this was a great starting read and gave me a greater confidence in my ability to build one someday soon. The plan included was a sturdy, all-purpose coop, one which I wouldn’t mind making myself.

*I would like to thank the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Okay, I know you can go onto Pinterest and download dozens of instructions for building chicken coops. What I like about this book is that it tells you what you should consider before building: choosing the location (close or far from the house, maybe close to the garden), the ground conditions, sun, shade, and wind. Also – instead of building a new coop, there are suggestions for converting sheds, playhouses, even doghouses! There are time-saving ideas for chores, a solar-powered door timer, and automatic waterers and feeders.

Many, many years ago, my grandparents had chickens and I was always fascinated by them. I could sit and watch them for hours and of course, I named them. Now I want my grandchildren to have this experience too. I did not learn the ins and outs of chicken raising from my grandparents and did not want to make expensive decisions with no knowledge. Enter HOW TO BUILD A CHICKEN COOP. We live in an area where the climate changes often and rapidly so I knew I needed a coop, just didn't know what kind. And I never knew the differences could make such a huge impact. This book was very helpful. It is clearly written and easy to understand. My new found knowledge will keep my chickens cozy and healthy while we reap the benefits of fresh eggs and plenty of entertainment.

How to Build Chicken Coops: Everything You Need to Know is a book in the FFA series of publications. Originally published in 2015, this re-release on Quarto's Voyageur imprint released 8th Jan 2019, is 192 pages and available in ebook and spiral bound formats.

This book is slanted toward young people and provides a lot of good step by step advice on why to build a shelter for your flock, how to site your coop, choice of materials and designing and building the structure.

The book is not oversimplified. With only the instructions provided, one could certainly build a suitable coop. The text is lively and the photographs are numerous, full color, and well done. It's peppered with trivia and entertaining notes in sidebars throughout. The information provided is mostly slanted toward readers in North America, but can be adapted for other locales. There's a useful resource index (again, mostly for readers in NA), and a cross referenced index at the back.

Well written and entertaining (bad chicken trivia jokes included), it's a fun read with practical use.

Four stars.

This is an excellent detailed book about keeping chickens. Not only does it provide a plan, instructions and step by step photos of building your own coop, it also gives very good information regarding keeping chickens, breed and egg production. The book also tells you how to convert a shed into a chicken tractor (movable chicken shed) and the tool and material required for the main coop design.
The instructions are simple to follow and one could build a very sturdy and serviceable coop and interior furnishings in very little time, for some very happy chickens.
Great book

First, this is a book on how to build <em>one</em> chicken coop, really. There is only one pattern here, and instructions for one coop. Now, granted, you can diviate, but if you are looking for plans for building more than the one coop, you should go elsewhere.

However, having said that, the instructions are very good, and you should be able to build a dang good coop with the instructions given.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screen-Shot-2019-01-19-at-8.34.20-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4922" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screen-Shot-2019-01-19-at-8.37.18-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4921" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screen-Shot-2019-01-19-at-8.37.34-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4920" />

And, there is lots more than just the instrictions, in here. In fact, the instructions don't start until the 5th chapter. (on page 102) The book is 192 pages long.

So, what is the rest of the book for then? Well, Chapter 4 tells you what tools you will need (which is important to know.), Chapter 3 is what to think about in the design, Chapter 2 is what to consider, and Chapter 1, is the most logical one, why you need a coop.

This book is good for what it does. It is very informative. There are other books that have more designs, but for what it says it does, this is a good step by step to teach you how to build the one coop on the cover.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.