Has anyone built coops from "Building Chicken Coops for Dummies"?

[swimmer]

Try your local library. They might have that book there, or some others.

 

[Chim Chim]

I just finished building the "All in One" coop from Building Chicken Coops for Dummies. The plans have major errors that caused wasted time and materials (and money). The top frame for the run and the roof in particular were way off. I made the nest boxes, measuring exactly, and then they didn't fit in the coop! It was pretty frustrating. I finally finished it and it worked out OK in the end--but what a nightmare. Also, it suggests that you can build the whole thing with nails but this is simply impossible. You have to use screws. There is no way to keep the pieces lined up as you wack at them with a hammer and, eventually, the whole thing would be smashed to bits. Anyone want to buy several very large boxes of nails?

 

[gander007]

Building a chicken coop is not a science project first how big build
a frame and put up walls and a roof measure and everything twice
and think before you move now the books are a general guide
line as it is rare for them to be 100% correct all the time......

gander007

 

[Alex41]

I just got the kindle version of this book. It has lots of good info.
The construction techniques are totally overbuilt. He uses basic house construction practices. A chicken coop does not need to be built to with stand the weight of a large bathtub on the 2nd floor.
If you've never picked up a hammer, then this book gets very detailed on exactly which saw blade to use on your saw, exact ideas on nails, etc.
The book is helpful for a few ideas, but I know house construction techniques and had to wade through dozens of pages on very basic information - how to hold a hammer, use a saw, etc. . if you need this info, then it's a good book for absolute beginners. I was looking more for information on the basic concepts of coop construction like how many sq feet of vent area I need for each chicken, as an example. I thought Storey's book on raising chickens was more helpful for general information.

Again, this is just my opinion, if you are new to construction, I would recommend this book.

Alex