Chicken DIY: 20 Fun-to-Make Projects for Happy and Healthy Chickens

It has been a while since I have blogged about urban homesteading topics like keeping chickens…

So for those of you wondering… YES, we still have chickens, YES we are still loving it! In fact, our little flock has, uhh… inadvertently grown. *cough cough*

So apparently this is what happens when you introduce unsexed baby chicks to the flock.. then fail to purge the roosters in a timely fashion. I sent my husband out to clean the chicken coop when I was massively pregnant, and he came back in with freshly hatched BABY CHICKS… we actually caught them in time to see them hatching, on Tessa’s birthday! It was a fun and TOTALLY unexpected birthday surprise for our four year old!

Anyhoo, with our recently expanded flock when I was approached about reviewing this book on 20 fun to make projects for backyard chickens, I jumped on it!! DIY? Chicken junk? I’m there.

About the Book

Book description from Amazon.com:

The popularity of egg-laying chickens is on the rise. Sustainable and fun, raising chickens is one of the most interesting and rewarding backyard hobbies you can find. In Chicken DIY, aspiring chicken farmers will find creative plans and easy-to-follow construction tips for making a safe and healthy environment for their fine-feathered friends. Veteran farmers and poultry enthusiasts Samantha and Daniel Johnson provide complete and easy-to-follow instructions for 20 essential projects, from coops and feeders to runs, ramps, roosts, and incubators. Clear step-by-step color photographs guide the reader through each hands-on project. Inside Chicken DIY

• How to prepare and build a safe and healthy environment for your backyard flock

• 20 hands-on projects for chicken coops, roosts, runs, ramps, feeders, waterers, nest boxes, egg incubators, and more

• Clear step-by-step color photographs

• Overview of the basic tools and skills needed to complete each project

• Complete, thorough, and easy-to-follow instructions

• Why DIY? section explains the positive benefits and satisfaction of building things yourself

• Bonus chapter takes a fascinating look at the history of chicken-keeping and DIY chicken projects through history

About the Author

Samantha Johnson (Phelps, Wisconsin) and her brother, Daniel, have collaborated on a number of rural-living guidebooks, including How to Raise Rabbits and Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping. Both are 4-H alumni and live on the family farm, Fox Hill Farm, in far northern Wisconsin. Samantha is a certified horse show judge and raises purebred Welsh Mountain ponies and Dutch, Holland Lop, and Netherland Dwarf rabbits.Daniel Johnson is a professional photographer who specializes in imagery of farm life. He is the author of the 4-H Guide to Digital Photography and the coauthor of The Field Guide to Horses. He lives on a family-owned horse farm in Phelps, Wisconsin, called Fox Hill Farm (www.foxhillphoto.com).

My Thoughts on the Book

So I have to be completely honest here.. I had already done almost every single item in this book, and the ones I did not do are either because it’s impractical for me (no room, no need for a quarantine cage, etc.) or because they just didn’t strike my fancy (I doubt my fat lazy hens will use a chicken swing..). So I did not find this book as useful as a I had hoped. HOWEVER, I can see that it would be a lovely book for a new chicken keeper, or someone who is just venturing out into the world of DIY projects.

IF you are new to chickens and new to DIY projects, I would recommend this book! The images are big and bright, with very detailed step by step instructions. The book does not assume you know your way around a hammer or a saw, and it goes through all the safety precautions, things to keep in mind, and helpful tips to get you started and going strong!

I plan on donating my book to a new chicken keeper, because this book should be golden for getting started.. especially the section on nesting boxes. Easy, simple, thorough and FUN! <3

Do you keep chickens? Do you indulge in DIY backyard projects? SHARE BELOW!