Hi, my name’s Jenny.
Thank you for checking out my website. If you’re looking for a comprehensive review of Building a Chicken Coop, written by Bill Keene, then you’re in the right place.
First of all, this is an informational, honest and unbiased review of Bill Keene’s build a chicken coop plans guide. You’ll want to read these important details before you decide whether or not to buy the guide for yourself.
Note that this is a review site. If you’re looking for the official Building a Chicken Coop website, click here…
So why am I writing this article? When I was doing research on how to build a chicken coop, I only found ONE review of this particular product, so I thought I’d quickly write one up to share with those of you who are also searching for information.
Just so you know, I will go into the positives and the negatives, just to make sure that all things are considered before you go purchasing these build a chicken coop plans.
Building a Chicken Coop Review
First, let me say that I have raised chickens before, and I’ve been considering getting chickens again and building a chicken coop. That’s why I was searching for the best chicken house plans. I live in a city, so I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was getting into before embarking on this project.
So I began the search for backyard chickens and chicken pens. So I, possibly like you, was looking for simple, easy to follow plans. Something I would make! Plus I wanted my own fresh organic eggs. But I’d forgotten a lot about chicken issues, so I needed some chicken information at the same time.
Also, chicken coop building needed to be affordable, because I wanted to save money, in the process making me more self-sufficient.
Basically, Bill Keene’s total system provides you with chicken house plans and designs for several different kinds of chicken sheds. Seven to be exact. I know it may not sound like much, but believe me, there was enough choice. Because each one covers all your raising chicken needs.
And all the sizes that you’ll need are there, too. From the movable chicken “tractor”, and small-sized up to barn size. These plans include the fences and runs, too. And the interiors of the henhouse.
Bill goes into all you have to consider, from the interior stuff, like nesting boxes, waterers, perches, lighting, ventilation, floor surfaces, etc.
He also covers the exterior considerations, like location of your house, soil types, slopes, how much outside area your chickens should have, etc.
BUT, he also includes a lot more information, too. Like which chicken breeds to pick for your climate; how to breed chickens and care for the chicks; daily, monthly and yearly chores; protecting from predators; and much more.
Click here for the official Building a Chicken Coop wesite
What’s in Building a Chicken Coop?
Plans and blueprints, and supply lists for good-looking hen houses are included in the system. Plans for chicken coops like: the portable ark coop, mid-size coop, large coop, double story chicken ark, large house, and chicken barn.
Every aspect is gone over, like where to locate your site, how big of a building do you want, how many windows to put in, all about ventilating, clean up, what kinds of chickens, etc.
The plans themselves are three-dimensional. And in color. So each step of the way has a 3-dimensional illustration. It shows inside and outside the coop, where the nesting boxes and perches should be.
There’s also some pretty nifty bonuses, also by Bill Keene, too. They include good things to know like:
- The cheapest materials to build your coop out of
- The best materials for the ground
- How to build nesting boxes for free
- How to best position your chicken coop
Negatives
- The bonuses are a little redundant. All of the material in the bonuses is already covered in the main ebook. BUT it is covered in a lot more detail in the bonus books.
- I thought at first that I might like a little more variety in the amount of plans offered. But when I looked at it more closely, I think everything one might need is already there. (My favorite is the medium sized coop.)
Positives
- This system is designed for the total beginner (like me!). No need to buy any special tools, just the basics that you’ll already have on hand, like hammer, screwdriver, nails, screws, drill, etc.
- The plans are so easy to follow. They’re in color (!), including to-scale diagrams and dimensions, 3-dimensional with inside and out illustrations.
- This was really a total SYSTEM! Almost everything that I needed to know about raising and housing chickens was right there. This alone made it worth it for me.
What I think!
It was really a lot more than I’d been expecting. It offered a lot more than most of the other chicken coop design plans that I’d checked out. Bill Keene has worked in the poultry industry for many years, and it shows. He is a master at knowing how to house, pick and raise chickens. There is so much information here, it’s simple and easy to use, no special tools are required. This is the best guide that I have found for building chicken coops. It’s a great guide for anyone, but really useful for someone who is a newbie at building, and at raising chickens.
