2017 Coops

Don’t think you can fit a coop in your yard? Our coop is proof you can! It fits nicely as part of an existing shed, rock and brick wall that were already in our yard. Check out a variety of native and food plants growing on dry-stack stone terraces, near outside art work, tree stumps and concrete test cores in the creative landscape behind our historic home. We actively capture and move rainwater where we need it, and enjoy a fire-pit, gardens, and chickens, all on our city-sized lot. Come see how we do it!

We built our new light and airy “Garden Coop” as a compromise, allowing our previously mostly free-roaming chickens plenty of space, yet protecting our gardens. Our home and chickens reflect our desire to live sustainably. Check out our rain garden, dry creek, 1000-gallon cistern, drip irrigation, composting and lots of other features. See how the chickens contribute positively to our human environment, while we keep them content and well-fed.

We’ve been on the Tour before, but now we and the chickens have cool new digs and a friendly pig.The new coop features reclaimed wood, to match our home, along with sky lights, solar lighting, a chicken swing, natural limbs to climb on and interior landscaping that changes frequently to keep them entertained. El Taco Cartel will be on site with a portion of proceeds donated to Urban Ministries.So come visit, have a snack, and enjoy.

Beautiful colors, an innovative split-level design, and some truly cool technological engineering set our coop apart from others. Our mixed flock of Black Stars, Rhode Island Reds and Wellsummers love their automatic watering system and the app that tucks them in safely each night. (Take that, predators!). Come see how we designed our coop for the ultimate in comfort and safety.

Our children’s playhouse breathes new life as a whimsical chicken coop! This elegant brick coop features a Dutch door, a cabinet style egg drawer, and even a reclaimed chicken ramp complete with a brick arched door! The coop builder will be on hand for a deep litter demonstration with industrial hemp, a year-round automatic watering system, information on the advantages of having a broody hen (with a broody to watch puff up and growl!), a mother hen with ducklings plus a mother hen with chicks.

Our vintage home sits in the historic Boylan Heights neighborhood, but our brand new coop stands out for its contemporary styling, rooftop garden, and copper accents.Our 6 chicks seem to love their new digs and the vegetable patch located right next to the coop is a win-win. We built it all ourselves and will happily tell you how. Come see us!

Children and Chicken Paradise! Our large, multiple-breed, flock lives in a coop and pen built of upcycled materials, proving you don’t have to spend a ton to have chickens. The coop shares space with a chemical-free vegetable garden, fruits, flowers, and a creative kid’s playspace.

At the Well Fed Community Garden, our large flock is key to our goal of serving as a source of healthy, locally grown produce for our community and Irregardless Cafe. Our girls eat leftover greens and insect pests from our extensive organic gardens, and are key to our urban agricultural model featuring composting, vermiculture, muchroom logs, a pollinator garden, rainbarrels and so much more. Take time to see how our garden thrives, with help from the chickens.

My fantastical yard is a wonderland of chickens and bunnies and oodles of art! Even my chickens come in an array of colors, and they live in comfort in a coop of many colors with chandeliers, fruit and vegetable gardens, and seating a plenty. Come enjoy the wonderland I’ve created – the chickens are waiting to say “hello.” Swing by this supersite location to learn more about chicken breeds from Dean Farm, and check out the coop you could win by Curtiss Coops and Yardbarns. Don’t forget to pick up your Tour D’ Coop t-shirt – on sale here!

This year’s Got To Be NC festival has gone to the birds! With a special focus this year on backyard flocks, stop by this free festival at the NC Fairgrounds after you get your fill of private coops. Visit the Agri-Plaza (between the Jim Graham and Expo buildings) to see baby chicks hatch on the spot and learn from the experts how to manage your own backyard chicken brood. Tons more to see and do, check www.gottobencfestival.com for details. Saturday hours until 8 pm, Rides close at 10 pm.

Our flock of 11 lives in a coop we built with plans purchased for $20 online — proof anyone can build an aesthetically pleasing coop! Our urban woodland paradise is literally tucked away from the city, and features lovely plantings, beehives and our young wether goats Spot, an Alpine, and Mickey, a Nubian-Boer mix, who eagerly await your pats and adoration.

No chickens here, but lots to see if you love bees! I have 3 Top Bar beehives, of differing designs, each with a window to see how these amazing pollinators do their work. Visit and ask me all your beekeeping questions, and find out how bees are truly your very best friends.

Despite our truly urban address, near SAS and Cary Academy, our flock of Marans, Araucanas and other breeds get to roam over several acres. Luckily, our zoning allows us to have more chickens than other Cary residents — even a lovely rooster! The girls (and guy) bed down at night in their coop, a converted potting shed. Our perennial and vegetable gardens should be lovely, so come visit our urban country address.

More to see than just chickens at our home–our vegetable and flower gardens include a lovely handbuilt chicken coop — home to Buff Orpington, Barred Rock and Americauna hens — but also raised beds, drip irrigation, compost area, vermiculture, straw-bale garden, and a hoop house greenhouse. If that’s not enough, we’ve got a unique watering system, an artful beehive and lots of solar features to check out too!

Come to our suburban homestead and see all we are do to thrive on a shoe-string budget, growing inexpensive organic fruits, berries and produce in our self-sustaining garden. Check out our colorful flock in their ‘Castle Coop’ and hear about our success and failures with what we call the “great experiment.”

Our coop is unique because it features a chicken moat! No drawbridge or roosters in shining armor, but we do have 15 happy hens who roam the moat encircling our veggie garden. This design keeps predators at bay and means the chickens help with pest and weed control – work they love! Kids will enjoy the creek and trails on our “mini-farm,” just a few miles from downtown Raleigh.

Our 3-story coop is home to 7 hens of various breeds, and is an integral part of our backyard, urban landscape that includes multiple levels, gardens, children’s play area and beautiful Mexican pottery. Who says chickens don’t fit into a landscaped city yard? Our coop will prove them wrong.

We have so much to see! Even a friendly goat and pig!!! Come visit our Silkies, Mille Fleurs and other hens living on a lushly planted urban lot. We have a greenhouse, compost station, pond, playhouse and even bees. There is something for everyone to enjoy at our coop. Swing by this supersite location to learn about how you can “try out” chicken ownership with Rent The Chicken and check out portable coops by Omlet. Listen to music from The Back Porch Boys. Don’t forget to pick up your Tour D’ Coop t-shirt – on sale here!

Can a chicken swing? Or help you compost? Visit our house and find out. Check out our huge vegetable garden, with blueberries, herb garden, beehives, composting area and rain barrels. Our place is kid AND chicken friendly—we’re ready for play!

We’ve got the biggest rooster you will ever see (really!) and so much more–our yard could be a Pinterest Pinup board, with a hand-dug Koi pond, babbling brook, horseshoe pit, Cornhole and even an outdoor movie screen! As for chickens–our girls live comfortably in a predator-proof coop featuring a unique automatic door. Come see how a car radio antenna and a little solar power can help protect your flock. We’ll also be selling hot dogs, with all proceeds benefiting Urban Ministries.

Calling all techies – our mixed flock of chickens and one duck appreciate the computer controls that protect and keep them comfortable at all times, closing their door at sunset and turning a fan off and on based on outside temps. With poultry-friendly vegetation and even a pond, these girls are truly livin’ the good life!