I grew up in a small town/farming community and spent a lot of time on my aunt and uncle's farm.

They only had one rule: Never name the animals because that's when they become pets. I once asked where that one big red chicken that I liked to feed was...after a long pause, my aunt told me "she ran away".

Yeah, I fell for it. I was 8.

Haha chickens are way too smelly to keep for decoration, and that coop will never stay clean. That said, it's awesome!!

many people would kill to live in something so nice.

Doesn't the dark color make it way too hot for the chickens? You're right, it makes you want to go right out and get chickens. My favorite chicken coop is still the hooped galvanized metal variety, finished off with wood on the far end and a door at the near end. My friends add low strung lights in winter for warmth (we live in central NYS) and they're happy layers year 'round.

Yes, I would like to see this coop after it's been put to use for few years.

If I ever go rural, I will have chickens. a cow and maybe some goats.

Wow! Talk about a modern and sleek home for chickens! It looks great and the idea of it is quite entertaining. I wonder how it'll hold up over the years.

I can still recall my grandmother's chicken coop in what wold've have been her patio (Latin America). It looked nothing like that!

If you just have a few chickens and do some very minimal care for them, they really aren't smelly. Our coop is about 10 feet from our back door, and smell has never been an issue at all.

I agree with e53, though--I remember the days when our coop looked so shiny and new--our hens are not smelly, but they sure are messy, and even when I scrub it down, the coop still doesn't look that sparkly anymore.

Anyway, what a lovely coop, and the design blends so nicely with her yard. And she was smart to put the pavers outside--chickens will tear up grass, so it wouldn't stay as pretty as those pavers do.

Hi all - Thanks for the compliments. To address some of your points, the coop gets dirty on the inside (the shavings) but the shavings get changed every few days so the interior of the coop stays pretty much the same. I mean, chickens don't poo sideways so ... it's not like they can cover the walls with th stuff.:) The run, well yes ... it's filled with chicken crap. And the coop is 80% ventilation with hardware cloth, so nope ... it doesn't get hot or smelly. Are 1000 chickens smelly? Yup. Are 4? No. 90% of their pooping in the coop goes on while they're asleep in their perch, so under their perch I have a poop board. Every other day I just pull it out, scrape the board off and put it back. I tend to research things to within an inch of their life, and my #1 concern was having a functional chicken coop that was easy to clean and comfortable for the hens. #2 was having something that blended with my small, urban backyard. I highly recommend getting a few hens! Really fun and fulfilling.

Yep I've seen some pretty depressing chicken coops that reflect the dire situation of their owners. Design for Humanity. & a chicken coop project, could save the spirits if not the world - one coop at a time:P

I love Karen's blog....she's funny and stylish! This turned out soooo good :)

I love this! It makes me want to own chickens now!

Wow! If spoiled and contented chickens lay better eggs, these should be positively AMAZING! Nicer than my first apartment! (NOT kidding!!)

lol. My chickens do manage to poo sideways on occasion. And even when they don't poop sideways, they will scratch around in their shavings on the coop floor, looking for any bits of food they may have set aside for later, and as they scratch they kick stuff up against the walls. And while they initially used their perch and the poop board worked great, they later found other places they like to hang out in the coop, thereby spreading their poop around and making them harder to clean up after on a daily basis. But you know what? These are not criticisms, just facts of life. We spent a lot of time and sweat building a pretty coop too, and even with some poop on the walls, it's still pretty, and we still love it. ;) Chickens are awesome, totally doable on a small city lot, and I'd recommend them wholeheartedly.

Karen-You are most sincerely my hero!!

I have been researching keeping chickens lately, I know a few people in my area (Burlington, VT) that do it. This literally made my jaw drop.

(I do love that high up ventilation near the top.)

Lanterns and a skylight? It's nicer than my house!! Love it :)

I LOVE this.

That is one classy coop! :-)

this is a sweet one. We make wacky coops too, feel free to check -em out: http://justfinedesignbuild.com/portfolio

Dang, that chicken coop is nicer than my apartment!

Awhile back I saw this really cool chicken coop http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/projects/Fowl_Play_0511.aspx and desperately wanted a chicken coop. I laughed when I read one commenter might adapt it for his pugs.

I love Karen, she's truly brilliant. This DIY project proved it. If it was the first time I was building a home for an animal, it surely wouldn't end up so professional looking. KUDOS!!

OH! And by the way ... my house doesn't have a skylight either. Sometimes I go into the coop and look up just because I can. Then I go back into my dark house and think about knocking a hole in the roof. :) ~ k

NICE coop - check out our cool celestial coop, that we designed and built:
http://forsythiahill.blogspot.com/2011/07/chicken-transport-2011.html

Enjoy!

LOL - Karen's blog was next on my list after I am done with AT. :-)
Excellent job, as always! I am a big fan of Karen's - she has TONS of excellent ideas.

Really nice coop, but I thought the same thing as many of the other readers...how long is it going to stay so nice looking with messy chickens in it?! I'd like to see her imagination used on a dog house.

I agree with Karen at the Artofdoingstuff, and it is possible to keep a coop clean, nice looking, and not smelling. Living in the city close to neighbors, you kind of have to. I have had my coop for almost 3 years, 20 feet from my back door in an urban neighborhood. I do clean under the roosts pretty much daily and the rest of the coop every few weeks to once a month. It still looks pretty good, minus a few spots of paint that have been chipped. Photos that were taken of the coop when it was already in use for 2 years, were just used in a new book on chicken coops, "Guide to Building Chicken Coops." Therefore, used coops, that house well cared for chickens, can still look pleasant after years of use.

If you want to see what I mean, there are two photos of my used coop (the first photo on the page was taken at 1 year of use and the second one at 2 years): http://hanburyhome.wordpress.com/about/

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