Posts Tagged ‘recycle’

18 Jun

Creative Recycled Chicken Coops

Posted by chickenwoman in classes, Coops. Tagged: , .


We have culled the Web to find the most creative chicken coops made from repurposed objects. Beat the high price of lumber and materials by re-using some of these common items to make a home for your hens! We especially love the idea of repurposing old wardrobes, cabinets, and other large pieces of furniture to make chicken coops. If you don’t own any of these items, they can readily be found at thrift stores or resale shops for a low price.

  • This one gets points for vintage style.
  • Turn that old swing set into a chicken coop. Points if you keep the swings for the chickens to perch on!
  • thehomesteadsurvival.com has instructions for making a chicken coop from a trampoline!
  • House your hens in elegance with a repurposed antique armoire or wardrobe! discover.hubpages.com
  • A place for everything! Ton Matton’s chicken cabinet uses drawers as egg boxes. inhabitat.com
  • When the kids outgrow the playhouse, turn it into a chicken coop! backyardchickens.com
  • Rock-a-bye, birdies, in the tree top… this baby crib makes a great coop!

Build Your Own Recycled Coop!

To make a functional coop from recycled materials, it is important to know the essential components that all chicken coops should have. I am teaching an online class called Chicken Coop Basics on July 7, 6:30-8:30pm, that will help you give your chicken coop design a firm foundation. This class addresses minimal requirements for building a safe and comfortable home for your hens. You’ll learn the basic housing needs of backyard birds, construction materials to choose and avoid, important construction tips, and see different coop styles. More information about this online class is available at the link below.

Chicken Coop Basics, July 7, 6:30-8:30pm

Tip: A great place to find used building materials is at your local re-building warehouse. These are popping up all over the country to salvage unused building materials from construction projects, home remodeling, etc. and make them available to the consumer. Here are links to a few in the Chicago area:

Chicago Rebuilding Exchange

Maywood Reuse Depot

Habitat ReStore – many Chicago-area locations

Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse

29 Sep

Are Hens Right for Your City? 5 Reasons for Urban Chickens

Posted by chickenwoman in Media coverage, Urban agriculture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .


Evanston, Illinois, city official overturned a 36-year-old law that prohibited hens within the city limits. Residents cite eggs, companionship, and fertilizer as reasons to keep feathered friends. Leah Zerbe of Rodale.com provided 5 great reasons to keep chickens!

Reasons why chickens belong in the city

#1. Urban chickens are “cheep” backyard city workers. Hens help recycle food and yard waste, which in turn stays out of landfills. In fact, The BBC reports that 50 people in the Belgian town of Mouscron received pairs of chickens from the town as an alternate waste-management system. Those progressive Europeans…

Now who wouldn't want this in your yard!? This is Sassafras, a Belgian bearded d'Uccle (from http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/milles.htm).

#2. City chickens are an organic exterminating service. Hens eat all kinds of bugs and weeds and will rid your yard of ticks and other nasties!

#3. Urban chickens as soil savers.
Chickens turn the soil by scratching, which can turn your compost heap, mix leaf litter with dirt to create fertile humus, and fertilize as they go!

#4. Heritage-breed city chickens contribute to genetic diversity.

When you hear chicken,  you probably think “white hen,” right? There are many heritage breeds that factory farms disregard as useless for their agribusiness operations. Keeping heritage-breed hens helps keep genes in the pool. (But breeding… that’s a whole nother can o’ worms…)

#5. Chickens make you happy! I’ve never met a chicken that didn’t make me happy! Except that fighting cock I met in Ohio who nearly tore off my upper lip… Animals (and people) we love contribute to our emotional well-being by causing our brain to release oxytocin, a feel-good hormone.

So there you have it! Take this list, go talk to your city council, and make chickens legal in your city!

For the full article, click here.