USU Students Build Chicken Coop for Local Nonprofit
By Lynnette Harris |
Video by Ben Nielsen, with the help of Henry Omar Lopez-Ortiz and Taylor Emerson, University Marketing & Communications
USU Ag students recently built extra-large chicken coops as part of their Ag Structures class project and installed the coops at Utah Refugee Goats' Salt Lake City farm.
The coops are built to high standards with fully enclosed roofs that will protect chicken flocks from potential illnesses spread by migratory birds. The chickens and their new homes are an important addition to work done by USU Extension animal science specialists with grant support from the Vilcek Foundation and the Utah Refugee Goats nonprofit, which provides refugees with work and youth education opportunities as well as greater access to culturally relevant food.
People who will work directly with the chickens say that once the new facilities are fully operational, they expect the chickens to produce about 200 eggs per day, and eggs will be available to people in the community.
A man operates a skid steer to connect the coop sections together on May 6, 2026. ASTE students and faculty built the coop sections over the course of a semester.
USU Ph.D. Candidate, and soon to be faculty member, Brad Borges, right, and recent graduate Matthew Ballif, left, speak with a skid steer operator. The group assembled the chicken coop at Utah Refugee Goats in Salt Lake City on May 6, 2026.
WRITER
Lynnette Harris
Marketing and Communications
S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Agriculture & Natural Resources
435-764-6936
lynnette.harris@usu.edu
CONTACT
Joseph Okoh
Assistant Professor of Small Acreage Livestock
Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences
joseph.okoh@usu.edu
TOPICS
Community 551stories Agriculture 272stories Animals 140stories Culture 133stories Nutrition 90storiesSHARE
Comments and questions regarding this article may be directed to the contact person listed on this page.
