How to Build Animal Housing: 60 Plans for Coops, Hutches, Barns, Sheds, Pens, Nestboxes, Feeders, Stanchions, and Much More

Cows and horses, donkeys and mules, sheep and goats, pigs and fowl, even llamas are living on small farms and in backyard barnyards throughout the United States. But how and where are these critters being housed?

Author Carol Ekarius knows. In How to Build Animal Housing, she provides dozens of plans--with illustrated, step-by-step instructions--for species-specific shelters that are well ventilated, safe, appropriate for the animals, appealing, convenient, and a solid value for their owners.

The book is essential reading for anyone interested in animal health and welfare. It includes complete plans and step-by-step, illustrated instructions for sheds, coops, hutches, multipurpose barns, and economical easy-to-build windbreaks and shade structures. Ekarius covers new high-tech, portable structures made of plastics and fabrics, such as hoop houses and hen spas, as well as more traditional alternatives, such as straw-bale structures. Always practical, she enumerates the advantages and disadvantages of ready-to-build kits and modular barnyard buildings and includes designs for watering systems, feeders, chutes, stanchions, and more--the essentials that help owners keep their animals healthy and happy.

Ekarius wisely emphasizes the importance of careful planning, choosing an appropriate housing site, and complying with local zoning regulations; pest control, basic housing maintenance, and insurance costs are also discussed. Real-world advice from farmers and veterinarians on the types of housing and facilities animals like best enliven the text throughout.

How to Build Animal Housing is the most comprehensive and useful guide of its kind. For small-scale farmers, hobby farmers, do-it-yourselfers, and animal lovers, this book is indispensable.
Price: $24.95

Click here to buy from Amazon

Sheds & Garages: Building Ideas and Plans for Every Shape of Storage Structure

Expand your storage options, add visual interest, enhance your property, and save money--all with one book, Sheds & Garages. This completely new edition of a perennial Sunset best-seller gives readers everything they need to choose and build the perfect structure to store all their accumulated stuff. Plus a bonus 32-page catalog section of mail-order building plans.
Combining design inspiration with construction how-to, Sheds & Garages features 12 projects for backyard builders, from simple to advanced, that complement a variety of architectural styles. Sheds & Garages explains in layman's terms the necessary tools and materials, as well as basic building techniques, to take your shed from foundation through the roof. Each project offers detailed instructions, materials lists, photos, and illustrations to guide you every step of the way.

Features Include:

12 shed projects in a variety of architectural styles

More than 175 color photos

More than 160 illustrations

Detailed step-by-step building instructions & materials lists

Bonus feature: 32-page catalog section of mail-order building plans
Price: $19.95

Click here to buy from Amazon

Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings: Plan, Design, Build

Written with the do-it-yourselfer in mind, Barns, Sheds & Outbuildings gives readers the information they need to plan, build, and finish a utility building. This revised and expanded edition presents a variety of buildings, from the simplest garden shed to a huge gambrel dairy barn to a backyard artist's studio. Part One begins with design and planning information to help potential builders locate their building, decide on its design, and decode architectural plans and building codes. Individual chapters detail the basics: building foundations, from simple shed foundations to poured concrete slabs; framing walls and roofs, including long sections on pole buildings and old-fashioned timber-framing techniques; and closing in the framing, including all types of roofing and siding as well as door and window installation. Other chapters cover the basic wiring and plumbing needs of barns, as well as options for interior and exterior finish work. Part Two presents 12 design concepts, with photographs and detail views, of various buildings that readers can build.

Price: $19.95

Click here to buy from Amazon