Customer Reviews

Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

I'm not usually so critical, but I was utterly disappointed in this book. The title is misleading. The '45 plans' mentioned in the title were not plans at all. They were at best 'general arrangements'. While overall dimensions were given, most 'plans' barely mention materials of construction and certainly didn't include an actual bill of material.
Some of the illustrations were little more than crude, badly proportioned hand sketches.
I guess I expected more from someone who felt they were qualified to write a book. I would have to guess that this is the authors first book. Apparently the publisher wasn't paying any attention during this project.
A synopsis of the book might read "throw some scrap material together and give it a cutsie name...I'll include it in my next book!!

This book is entitled "Chicken Coops- 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock". There were no complete building plans, only drawings with construction "notes". There were no material lists with specs. I cannot build a chicken coop with this book. There are websites listed where I can buy some of the plans - but wouldn't a person expect these plans to be inside a book entitled this way?

This book would have gotten 5/5 stars from me if it read, "Chicken Coops: 46 Building IDEAS/PICTURES for housing your flock." There are absolutely NO PLANS IN THIS BOOK!!! If your looking for with actual plans in it, try "Poultry House Construction, by Michael Roberts." That book is under a hundred pages and is a wealth of knowledge (with various plans in it). If your looking for great chicken coop IDEAS than this is your book. There are a lot of great ideas in this book, and if your good with planning and tools than this is all you need. As I said if the book supplemented the word Ideas instead of plans I would have given it five starts. This is a great book, it just has a misleading title. Sorry Ms. Pangman I can't give you 5 stars when your book doesn't live up to it's title.

Should I have read the reviews, including that of the author... I would probably not have this book on my shelves.

The book is interesting and amusing to see how different people has built different Coops and Houses for their birds but if you are looking for (as I was) real plans and how to build kind of book... you should look somewhere else.

What I have learned... is to read reviews and don't take book titles literally.

I was aware that there were no building plans (based on other reviews), but I wasn't too worried because of I can make materials lists pretty easily from drawings. However, I was surprised that the drawings in this book have incorrect measurements (rather frustrating). This is a coffee table book, and even as that, it's not so exciting. There were really only a few designs that broke away from the square-box chicken coop idea. The best thing about this book is the presentation of the idea of keeping chickens as being an urban middle-class phenomenon. It was good for ideas, but it's not a keeper.

I was hoping for a book that had actual plans and dimensional drawings of various coops. Instead, this book is more of an "ideas" book or a grand tour of various coops that people have built. Definitely a disappointment.

I agree, a waste of money. There are no plans in this book, some lovely photos at the back and some pencil drawings of the coops, but no actual building plans and no list of materials. If you are already an experienced builder - no problem. If not, don't waste your money. Oh, there is a web site listed to have the plans and materials list for one of the coops mailed to you - that will cost $35.00.

Great book of ideas for interesting chicken housing. Although use of the word "Plans" may be misleading this book is filled with pictures of great coops. I am building one now patterned after one of the coops in the book. This is not a carpentry book, rather an inspirational tour of various coops. For some reason there is an absence of published plans for small chicken coops. This book gives you a place to start. You'll have to design you own and read some carpentry books. Neither of these two activities is bad especially if you involve some kids!

I bought this book to look for bona fide plans for building a new chicken coop. I have had chickens a long time and have built several coops. I wanted to avoid the mistakes I made before.

This book is very nicely illustrated but is like the worst of Mother Earth News -"Make a City Water Treatment Facility From Used Cereal Boxes." If you are high and live on a commune this is the book for you. It is not for anyone with a small farm who wants to build a chicken coop that is easy to maintain and clean, will last, and is safe for chickens.

This book is nicely printed and put together. However, the actual contents are rather bland. Most of the 'designs' or 'plans' are just pictures with only basic dimensions of the chicken coops. If you're someone like me, that needs step by step directions, or at least general directions, then this book is NOT FOR YOU. If you are a worthy builder or if you don't care if it doesn't look professional this this book will most likely inspire you to build one of these coops. Otherwise, if you're not very good at carpentry or simply can't wrap your head around constructing a structure by simply looking at a picture (similar to playing piano by ear) like me, then I suggest you look at google for free, more detailed plans.