Customer Reviews

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel Books)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book because I was looking for some ideas for building a chicken coop. Being new to raising chickens, I needed something that would provide some good, sensible ideas for building a chicken coop. I really like this book for a couple of reasons:

1. There are several different designs included in the book covering housing of different types for various purposes or situations: Duck nest Boxes, Internal Nest Boxes, Broody-Bantam-Rabbit Coop, Broody Boxes, Anti-broody Coop (Sin Bin), Trap nest Box, Show Box, Bantam Ark, 8ft Run, two Arks, Free Range Feeder, Eight-Hen House, and more.

2. There appears to be sufficient detail on each plan to enable me to be successful in completing the projects.

Some of the short comings of this book include: 1) for the beginner, the book does not provide a lot of background on which type of housing should be used for a particular situation. For example, would I be better off building a fixed coop or a movable (tractor) coop? 2) The plans in the book are hand drawn, and it takes some additional effort to understand them compared with professionally drafted plans. 3) There are no materials lists or step-by step instructions, so you'll have to spend some time to calculate those things as well. It would have been nice if the author had included at least a materials list for the plans as specified.

However, I am very pleased with this book, because it has helped me to think about the housing needs for the chickens, and it has provided me with a lot of good construction and design ideas/considerations. At the end of the day, I'll probably adapt one or more of the plans in this book to my own needs and build it.

I recommend this book for anyone who is thinking about raising chickens or other poultry, and planning to build their own housing for their birds.

I bought this book on recommendation from someone reviewing Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock. "Poultry House Construction" is certainly superior to that title, but is not exactly comparable. "Chicken Coops" is all conceptual -- no measurements at all and some pretty crude drawings, but tons of ideas. "Poultry House Construction" has good schematic drawings and measurements, with photos of finished projects, but is rather limited in its range of designs.

If you're keen on small-scale projects, this book is good: lots of nest boxes, arks and range feeders. There are also plans for four mid-sized coops with side- or top-access. If you are looking for plans for a large coop (say, for 10+ birds) that you can stand in, however, you won't find it here. I built a 6-ft. chicken ark (aka chicken tractor) using this book as inspiration, but you'll want to add your own touch to most of the plans. For my coop, I've had to look elsewhere.

I found How to Build Animal Housing: 60 Plans for Coops, Hutches, Barns, Sheds, Pens, Nestboxes, Feeders, Stanchions, and Much More exceptionally helpful for general information on construction -- from rabbit hutches up to giant cattle barns. If you don't have any real building experience, I highly recommend this title, even if you're just building a 7'x6' chicken coop like me. Check out the forum on "Coop & Run Design and Construction" at BackyardChickens[dot]com as well for a lot of great ideas and examples.

This was the book I wish I had prior to building my chicken coop. This book not only gives you 8 coop designs (black and white photo and hand written plans for each coop), it also has anti broody coops, nest box designs, trap nest box, duck nest box, and others.

What I feel might be one of the most important features of this book for beginners to construction (like I was), was tips to help you stay away from some of the pit falls beginners make when building a coop (never use felt paper on the roofs of chicken houses it attracts red mite). The author tells you what tools you will need, what woods to use (and more importantly which ones not to use), and he just brings things to your attention that you should consider prior to starting. All this plus 8 coop picture with designs, range feeder design, rabbit coop design, and all in under a hundred pages. This book does all any book could in under a hundred pages. Trust me this book will save you a lot of money and heartache (I know I wish I had it when I built mine).

Book is ok not the best, gives some plans and some detail, not a bad book, just not a great book, I would recommend it , but could have been better, gives U some really good ideas and gives U inside if U are new to building a coop house.

We were thinking about getting layers but didn't know much about care and housing. This book helped greatly in our decision making and has great ideas for design and construction of hen houses and other useful structures. Highly recommended for beginners.

As 4H Leaders, we needed a book for our project to help new families figure out what type of chicken coop would be best, and get some ideas on how to build one. This book gives a nice variety of coop examples and is easy to understand, even for the novice builder. Well worth the price!

This book has excellent illustrations and details for building your own poultry houses. It is the best of all the books I've found so far in offering easy to follow instructions. Keep in mind, however, that even building your own can be expensive if you have to purchase all new materials. The difference in costs should be weighed when you decide to build your own or purchase a prebuilt one from a manufacturer. You might be surprised! If you can scrounge lumber, hardware, and chicken wire from used sources, you're 'way ahead!

Only basic skills are really needed, and this book tells you everything you need to know.

If you are looking for ideas, probably not. If you are looking for plans skip this one.