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

Learn for yourself the rewards of keeping chickens in your own backyard!

• 20 DIY projects for chicken coops, roosts, runs, ramps, feeders, waterers, nest boxes, egg incubators, and more
• Step-by-step instructions, clear, thorough, and easy to follow, with coordinating color photography
• How to prepare and build a safe and healthy environment for your backyard flock
• Basic overview of the tools and skills needed to complete each project
• Creative recipes for delicious, homemade dishes from your backyard-fresh eggs
• The history of chicken-keeping and DIY chicken projects is explored in a fun bonus chapter

Sustainable and fun, raising chickens is not only interesting and entertaining, it produces a bounty of fresh, tasty eggs!

In Chicken DIY, aspiring chicken farmers will find creative plans and easy-to-follow construction tips for making a safe and healthy environment for your fine-feathered friends. Join the brother-and-sister team of Daniel and Samantha Johnson—veteran farmers, poultry enthusiasts, and avid DIYers—as they present complete and detailed instructions for 20 essential projects, from coops and feeders to runs, ramps, roosts, and incubators. Clear step-by-step color photographs will guide you through each hands-on project, and each fully illustrated make-at-home project—from the chicken tractor to the chicken swing to the chicken sweater—is as enjoyable as it is fulfilling to create!

Inside this book, you'll find advice on preparing a safe and healthy environment for your flock, as well as an illustrated introduction to the tools and skills needed for each project. The "Why DIY?" section explains the positive benefits and personal satisfaction of building things yourself, while an interesting bonus chapter takes a fascinating look at the history of chicken-keeping and innovations in poultry care throughout time. You'll also find delicious recipes for "egg-cess" eggs, from a savory frittata to a decadent triple chocolate torte.

Raising chickens is one of the most interesting and rewarding backyard hobbies you can find. Farmers and backyard hobbyists alike already know the rewards of keeping fine-feathered friends, and the popularity of egg-laying chickens is only on the rise. Making your own chicken equipment and structures adds another level of creativity and fun to caring for a flock. Your chickens are sure to happily enjoy the dust-bathing area, chicken run, grazing box, and wading pool that you create with your own hands!

Get started building fun handmade projects for your flock of chickens, with Chicken DIY!

"The brother-and-sister writing team of Samantha Johnson and Daniel Johnson has been advising Chickens magazine readers since the first issue. Samantha has a flair for fowl language, with articles ranging from inspiring egg recipes to rare-breed profiles, while Daniel has also contributed exquisite poultry photography. These two 4-H alumni are quite the pair."
— Roger Sipe, Group Editor, Chickens and Hobby Farms magazines

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 (foxhillphoto.com).