Table Of Contentreinventing the chicken coop
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reinventing
the
chicken
coop
14
Original
Designs
with
Step-by-Step
Building
Instructions
Kevin MceLROY &
Matthew wOLpe
phOtOgRaphY bY eRin KunKeL
ß
Storey Publishing
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The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by Acknowledgments
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.
This book would not be possible without
an incredible network of support from the
following people:
Edited by Philip Schmidt, Sarah Guare, and Deborah Balmuth
Art direction and book design by Alethea Morrison
Text production by Jennifer Jepson Smith Russell Brent and Nicholas Hodges, Leah
Photography by © Erin Kunkel Fessenden, Sabina Rasenow, Kaytlyn
Illustrations by © Michael Gellatly O’Connor, and Salvador Menjivar for housing
our finished coops. Novella Carpenter for
housing our coop and providing insight and
Text © 2012 by Matthew Wolpe and Kevin McElroy guidance on all aspects of our project. Our
Copyrights to plans featured belong to the designers of those plans. Such plans are intended for contributors: Traci Fontyn, Adam Reineck,
individual use only and are not to be sold or reproduced. Yvonne Mouser, and Nicole Starnes Taylor.
Maurice Cavness, Nelson Bellesheim, Michel
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission Dedeo, Michael Seidel, and Darren McElroy
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce for helping move some of our (ridiculously
illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be heavy) coops. Biofuel Oasis for spreading the
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — word about Just Fine Design/Build. Julie Pavuk
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other — without written permission and Barbara Finnin of City Slicker Farms; we’re
from the publisher. so happy to have a long-standing relationship
The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. with their organization. Shannon Little for
All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey legal advice. Bill from ShedMover.com. Vale
Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use Larson Brasted and Dennis McElroy for
of this information. invaluable design and construction advice. Erin
Storey books are available for special premium and promotional uses and for cus- Kunkel, our amazing photographer. Stephany
tomized editions. For further information, please call 1-800-793-9396. Fillimon for technical writing advice. Joey
Gottbrath and the studio staff at The Crucible
Storey Publishing for putting up with all of our construction and
210 MASS MoCA Way having a sense of humor about it. Deborah
North Adams, MA 01247 Balmuth, Sarah Guare, and Alethea Morrison
www.storey.com for their ongoing support at Storey Publishing.
Philip Schmidt for the careful and diligent
Printed in China by R.R. Donnelley editing. Tamar Beja, Audrey Hodtwalker,
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Hillary Kantmann, and Andrew Murphy
for all-around chicken-keeping support.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file Andreas Stavropoulos for being a mentor and
inspiration. Sean McElroy and Sean Tischler
for help cutting the shipping container in
half. Deborah Lebow, Alisa Lebow, Deena
Lebow, Josh Wolpe, Beth Lebow, Sheri Kuehl,
Jane Dawson, Kathy McElroy, Ryan & Jaime
McElroy, and Chloe Sladden for editing help,
ongoing support, encouragement, and love
throughout this wacky project.
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Contents
preface 7
the BasiCs
chicken coop essentials 11
coop-Building Basics 21
Coop projeCts
two Simple classics: the Standard and the A-Frame 40
Stoop coop 56
Modern Mobile coop-tractor 64
icebox 74
Modern Log cabin 82
chick-in-a-Box 94
SYM 106
corner coop 120
kippen house garden roof chicken coop 128
pallet coop 144
coopsicle 158
cupe 168
container coop 182
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prefaCe
W e certainly did not set out to write a book on chicken thousands of festival patrons were willing to commission a
coops. While debating whether to take on such an custom coop as we hoped. People loved our coop, but we were
ambitious project, we were well aware of our shortcomings. competing against prefab kits sold on the Internet at a frac-
We are not farmers, chicken experts, technical writers, archi- tion of the cost. We were realizing the difficulty in making
tects, or ecologists, and we had never published anything of any money at custom design/build projects. We both worked
significance. other jobs to support our creative pursuits: Matt on staff at
What we are, however, are makers — part of a strong cur- an arts nonprofit and teaching furniture-making classes, and
rent of people in the Bay Area who sketch and tinker, make Kevin as a winemaker.
messes and experiments in their basements and garages, and Then one day, soon after Maker Faire, we were contacted
keep coming back for that addictive satisfaction of creat- by Storey Publishing. They had seen Chick-in-a-Box featured
ing something useful. In 2008, Matt taught a collaborative in a design publication and liked what they saw. Six months
design/build class in Oakland with City Slicker Farms. In later, we submitted a proposal for the book you have in your
the free class, community members learned basic carpentry hands, and we decided to take the chicken coop much more
skills while working on a project to take home. And the proj- seriously. (Well, not too seriously!) It was an appealing proj-
ect? A chicken coop. To teach the class, Matt had to learn a lot ect, sort of like building a bunch of very small houses, each
about chicken coops fast. with its own roofing, flooring, and framing system. It had
Fast-forward a year. As close friends and fellow general- the potential for the detail and craftsmanship of fine furni-
ists, we formed Just Fine Design/Build in 2009 as a creative ture, and the design vocabulary of architecture. It connected
outlet and experimental business. When brainstorming a to bigger ideas of food production and sustainability, and it
project to bring to Maker Faire (a convention of inventors, empowered others through the safe and effective use of tools.
hackers, musicians, farmers, and artists), we decided to take With funding from the publisher, we could design cus-
another stab at chicken coop design, this time expanding tom coops and not have to worry about selling each one
upon the lessons learned from Matt’s first round. We felt we individually. Design inspiration came from many directions:
had something to contribute to the body of chicken coops materials, clients, sites, traditions, and our own dreams and
out there, to add to the discussion: something well-designed, ideas. The Pallet Coop (page 144) was designed and built for
contemporary, clean; a coop people wouldn’t apologize for the legendary urban homesteader Novella Carpenter. We
as an eyesore in their yard but instead present proudly as wanted to create a structure out of old shipping pallets, and
a statement of self-sufficiency; something well-built with she was the ideal candidate, as her farm is filled with recycled
thought and intention. Like an egg, out came Chick-in-a-Box and castaway parts. The Cupe (page 168) was built for clients
(page 94). who live high in the hills of Berkeley, California, and features
The coop was featured on some design blogs and received a roofline and primary colors mirroring those of their beau-
an Editor’s Choice Award at Maker Faire, but none of the tiful midcentury modern house. The Coopsicle (page 158)
7
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was designed to accommodate the slope of a steep hillside That year also brought us into contact with a cadre
and also satisfied Matt’s childhood desire to build a tree- of characters: seasoned urban farmers, eccentric chicken
house. The Container Coop (page 182) is built from a surplus enthusiasts, foodies, suburban families, landscape architects,
20-foot shipping container cut in half and looks right at home structural engineers, industrial designers, permaculture
in an industrial part of West Oakland, California. practitioners, and single parents working to provide healthy
We are also pleased to present the work of other tal- food for their kids. All preconceived notions of who we
ented chicken coop designers. Nicole Starnes-Taylor and would encounter when taking on this project were shattered.
Traci Fontyn had already designed and built their backyard We found interest in keeping hens across wide swaths of the
chicken coops and agreed to include their designs in our population. Interested folks were enthusiastic and certainly
book. Adam Reineck and Yvonne Mouser had designed their not shy about sharing their experiences and opinions about
SYM coop (page 106) for a competition but had not built it chickens. They either keep chickens currently or are planning
until we approached them. to in the near future, or they have a friend with chickens, grew
With this collection of 14 coop designs, our hope is to up on a farm, or want to tell us their grandmother’s experi-
expand the definition of what a chicken coop is or could be. ence with chickens as a young girl.
Surely, building more time-tested coop structures would be We also found a new appreciation for the egg. It is noth-
sufficient, and we love the traditional coops out there. But the ing short of a miracle that such a perfect morsel of protein is
role of the chicken is expanding, and with it we see the nature produced by a healthy chicken daily — a feat of nature that is
of chicken shelter expanding, too. Chickens are no longer not to be taken for granted.
solely in the domain of the farm; now they are a fundamen- Now get out there and build your own coop! Follow our
tal component of DIY food production and food security in instructions word for word, or exercise your creative right
urban and suburban backyards. This makes coop design an and customize one of our coops to fit your lifestyle, your yard,
ideal medium for experimentation: How can chicken coops and your personality.
better serve users in the contemporary world? How can they
look and function differently? What kinds of materials can Kevin McElroy and Matt Wolpe
be used? Can chicken coops be treated like a piece of out- Oakland, California
door furniture? Can chicken coops serve multiple purposes
in a well-functioning small urban farm? Our designs are an
attempt to answer these types of questions.
During our year of frantically designing and building
coops, we also had a whole lot of fun. What could be better
than working with your friend, designing and building small
structures, and having creative control of a project from start
to finish? Unlike building a house, which could stretch on for
years, a chicken coop is a project you can tackle in a matter
of days — the perfectly scaled project to sink your teeth into
and not get burned out on.
8 pReface
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the
BASicS
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