Hyman Frank. Hentopia: Create a Hassle-Free Habitat for Happy Chickens; 21 Innovative Projects

Storey Publishing, LLC, 2018. — 229 p. — ISBN10: 1612129943, 13 978-1612129945.From the Vending Machine Feeder to the Refilling Rainwaterer, Hyman's innovative building projects are designed to save time and money while keeping chickens safe, healthy, clean, and well fed. Featuring easy-to-follow instructions and colorful photos, the 21 projects for the chicken yard range from creative doorways, nest boxes, fencing, and roosts to a predator-proof pen, a "Chunnel" chicken run, and a sturdy but inexpensive coop made from wooden pallets. With a lively, humorous voice, Hyman generously shares his expert advice on all aspects of chicken-keeping. Requiring minimal previous carpentry experience and using many salvaged or found materials, Hentopiais within reach of every aspiring chicken-keeper.
Inside...
Part Chicken Habitat:
Feed the Masses without Any Messes. Build feeders from free or low-cost materials or use vintage feeders. Create a critterproof “Vending Machine” feeder made from a 5-gallon bucket, eyehooks, and wine corks. Learn how to make a drawer feeder and a nursery pot feeder, and harvest grass clippings with your mower.
Drink Up (or Down). Build a self-filling waterer from a rain gutter and downspout, a 5-gallon bucket, and watering nipples to keep chickens from “fowling” the water;
The Hen Pen and a Chicken Corral. Construct a predator-proof pen (aka “run”) with readily available materials, and create a “Chunnel” (chicken tunnel);
Enrich and Accessorize. Entertain the chickens with “enrichments” (as zookeepers say) such as tree branches in the pen to roost on. Also use salvaged dog crates to isolate new, sick, or broody hens, and buy crickets at the bait shop to stage a rapid-paced rodeo for the chickens.
Part Ins and Outs of Chicken Coops.
Doorways Four Ways. Build a no-sag gate for the pen, an automatic door for the chickens, and a henkeeper’s door and cleanout doors for you;
No-Burnout Cleanout and Ventilation. Make coop cleanout super easy, as well as address the conundrum of how to have good ventilation without also having drafts. Covers bedding, easy composting (never smells and never needs turning), ventilation guidelines, and more;
Building the Best Nest Box. Make a nest box that is easy to clean and accessible even to kids.
Part Backyard Building.
Tips and Tools for Non-Carpenters. Build your coop/pen/habitat with a jigsaw and drill. Learn about other safe-to-use tools and techniques;
High-Quality, Low-Cost Materials. Find free pallets, salvaged metal roofing, salvaged fencing, and the like, and learn how to use galvanized fencing, pressure-treated wood, cedar, or other options;
Coop Design. Find designs and how-to for a coop made of free pallets.