There is nothing better than collecting fresh, still-warm chicken eggs in the knowledge you and your family have exclusively looked after the birds. You know what the birds ate and what went into the eggs.

There's a growing trend in the US for people to keep chickens in their backyards for eggs, meat, and gardening fertilizer. In Austin, Texas, for example, chicken keeping is widespread, and, for the moment anyway, even roosters are permitted.

Building your own chicken coop could be the first step to a satisfying hobby farming that could lead to healthier living and save you some dollars at the grocery store.

If you've taken the plunge and are brooding baby chicks, the only thing that stands between you and a supply of fresh eggs is a permanent place for your hens to call home. By six weeks of age, they need something more than a cardboard box to live in. Building a basic chicken coop for a small flock of birds is a solid weekend project for the determined "do-it-yourselfer" with carpentry skills, while the more elaborate coops could easily take several weeks (and will require advanced carpentry skills).

All coops have two main components: an enclosed space for sleeping and laying eggs and an open air "chicken run" to roam around in during the day. The enclosed space should open directly to the run but should be elevated at least two feet above it so there is space to collect the droppings that fall through the floor. (More on that in a moment.)

There are many possible ways to plan, configure, and build a chicken coop, and that is the primary burden of this audiobook: to teach you all you need to know as a beginner in this exciting endeavor.