Members Members of Backyard Chickens.com - Backyard Chickens Guide to Coops and Tractors: Planning, Building, and Real-Life Advice

About BackYardChickens.com

Back in 1999 a few baby chicks were brought home from a kindergarten class. Similar to the experience of hundreds of thousands of other children and their families, what started out as a fun project turned into a hobby and then into an obsession! Established in 1999, BackYardChickens.com is the result of years of collective learning and fun rolled up into an excellent resource for raising your own backyard flock. The site has become the #1 destination for peeps looking for information on raising chickens in any urban, suburban, or rural backyard!

The site was originally just a simple chicken coop design. Over time more useful information was added. With more chicken information came more site visitors, some of which submitted their own coop designs.

As the content grew so did visits to the site and with visitors came questions lots of questions. Everything from hatching eggs to how to raise chickens. We tried to answer as many questions as we could by adding information to the site but we realized there were too many different variables to create content for every situation. So, back in 2000 we started the first BYC Message Board. Over the years this forum has grown, moved, changed and moved again, but the community has remained strong.

This great site and community have grown far beyond anyones original idea, and its great to see the site become something really useful for anyone interested in raising, breeding and caring for their backyard chickens. Enjoy!

From the BackYardChickens.com web site

When we decided to publish a book on building chicken coops, we knew that we didnt want a book of designs that were more decorative than practical. We wanted to offer the readers coops that were built and used by real-world chicken owners. In fact, we wanted coop designs that could be built by beginners, with limited experience at building.

After five minutes on the internet, one web site continued to figure prominently in every search: BackYardChickens.com. The site was built and populated using information from actual chicken owners offering stories of their experiences and lots of information about building their chicken coops. We contacted the site owner and he agreed to let us contact members on the sites very active forum pages to ask for their assistance. The site offers hundreds of plans for chicken coops (small, medium and large) as well as plans for chicken tractors (portable coops).

The coops are from different parts of the country and represent different weather types, too. Each includes that owners personal story about why they keep chickens, and their coop-building process in their own words. The attention to building detail varies for each, but in general the building process is very similar to general framing construction. If youve ever built a shed, youll be in good shape. If youve never held a hammer, weve added a Construction Techniques section that will get you started.

We focused on smaller coops and a few tractors, anticipating that this book would likely be used by first-time chicken owners. Should you need plans for larger coops, the web site is a phenomenal source of information for many other coop sizes. What hasnt been included on the backyardchickens.com web site are cutting lists and building diagrams for the coop designs. We felt that would be a valuable addition for any first-time builders, and so weve added those features.

If you are a first-time builder, we recommend starting with the Construction Techniques section, and then read through our longest coop story (Small Coop Tutorial) for a more detailed presentation of coop-building basics.

While this book provides lots of information on building coops, there are many situations that may be unique, or at least unusual, that may not be addressed here. In addition, this book focuses on building coops, not the general upkeep and how-to of caring for chickens. There are many books available with that information, and we would also strongly suggestion you take advantage of the members of the backyardchickens.com website. You will never find a more helpful group of folks.

Enjoy your coop-building project, and if there is one theme that many of our contributors repeated, it is to leave plenty of time to build. It can take more time than you expect, but all agree that it is time well spent.

The Editor

Raise your own chickens? Why? Well, lots of good reasons. In the early 1900s there was a backlash against the industrial revolution that sent many people back to their lifestyle roots. They preferred a simpler way of life where they felt more in control. Were experiencing a similar reaction to the technological revolution that continues to bombard our lives every day. Todays revolution is a good thing, but it can still make us long for simpler times. In our case were looking back to our roosts, rather than our roots. Raising and keeping chickens offers a way to control part of our food chain. Much has been written about the factories where much of our food is produced, and when we stop to think about the process, its not all that appetizing. The simple act of walking out to your backyard coop and gathering eggs for the family table seems much more satisfying. As we care for our flock, we feel connected to the process in a very personal way. Add to that the simple joy that chickens can provide as family pets and the work involved is not too strenuous. In addition, if you feel so inclined, chickens waste is an excellent source of fertilizer and can positively contribute to your flower beds and garden, continuing the opportunity to be more in control of your food chain by growing your own vegetables.