2012 featured coops
These are the coops that were on the 2012 tour
View the 2014 coops
Adam built our beautiful coop with the help of our neighbor Tom. We have eight young hens who recently started laying in February: blue laced red Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons and Dominiques. We have a couple of vegetable gardens, fruit, herbs, flowers and lots of other green stuff including the biggest gardenia bush we've ever seen!
Built from various dumpster diving finds and reclaimed materials from the Habitat Restore, our chicken coop houses 3 ladies: Brownie Peggy, Pecker and The Chicken Who Shall Not Be Named: "Voldamort for Short". Along with our house, coop and run we have water catchment, compost bins and raised beds. While you're here, take a peak in the refurbished 1955 Flying Cloud Airstream used as a guest house!
Tucked away just beyond our lawn-free front garden, nine lovely hens live in a coop made of new and re-used materials with a metal sunroof. It sits atop a South facing hill and the run leads into our edible garden where the chickens feed the soil directly in the winter and through the rich compost they make the rest of the year.
Our coop sits in between gardens full of heirloom vegetables and flowers. Constructed from recycled materials, the coop has easy access to the run and egg gathering. Built in a nice shady spot, the coop keeps the girls out of the summer sun. Along with koi fish, three dogs and two cats, our eight hens make our little backyard farm complete.
Big Boss Brewing Company has started a garden. We started with the chicken coop and moved on to a garden, rain barrels, honey bees and a solar food dehydrator. Our coop is made of materials found around our warehouse. Our coop roof is made of the same material as the brewery roof and the run is made of three, eight foot pallets. Come on by, share a beer and talk chickens and gardening.
Schoolhouse Flock - Our little red coop resembles a classic schoolhouse and makes the perfect playground for our four girls who are almost two years old. There is Cutlet, Nugget, Drumstick and Biscuit. Though the girls' names are quite delicious, they are strictly egg layers. They're in love with vegetable scraps and when we're home, we enjoy watching them scratch around in the grass and take dirt baths.
Modern, Sleek and Stylish. Not words usually associated with a chicken coop? Wait until you see ours! We set out to see if sustainability can be accomplished on .18 acres in town, all the while keeping a nice aesthetic and blending in with all of our stylish neighbors. We have a dwarf orchard consisting of peaches, nectarines, figs, apples, persimmons, kiwis, banana and olive trees as well as grape vines (for wine, of course). Oh, the good life. Welcome to our urban farm.
Our 1/3 acre urban lot contains raised garden beds, herbs and roses along with our chicken coop! We have five beautiful hens which lay a variety of colored eggs every day. We even have a ten pound dog who happily herds the girls.
At FreeByrd Farm, meander through the winding paths of one of Raleigh's favorite gardens to a private bamboo glade to discover our coops. Along the way, enjoy fountains, fishponds, welcoming decks and a garden house. More than 25 heirloom hens, representing 11 breeds, and their henpecked rooster enjoy two airy coops built with reclaimed doors, windows, architectural elements, antique chandeliers and a columned canopy.
In our 1/3 acre urban backyard, we have a luxurious (by chicken standards) coop and pen with 10 hens of many varieties: a little bantam, a big black Jersey Giant, a tall white Delaware, 2 beautiful Speckled Sussex, an Easter Egger, a fuzzy Silkie ....and more. Our kids love to watch and hold them and collect and weigh the eggs. They'll be selling lemonade for visitors (proceeds will be split with Urban Ministries).
Nestled alongside garden paths, woodland hideaways and a creek, this bright red coop boasts a pergola design and a cedar shake roof. With a tree inside for perching, this predator proof paradise is not to be missed. There is a new larger garden located near the coop, featuring large heirloom tomato plants grown from last year's seeds.
"Tar-heeled and Feathered", these three Carolina hens share their garden home with two queen bees and their hives. The blueberry bushes and vegetable patch benefit from the rich composted fertilizer courtesy of the hens. The bees gather nectar to make us honey, and pollinate our flowers for a rich bounty. Herbs, fruits, vegetables and eggs straight from the garden; what could be better?
The coop, constructed of a variety of wood (scraps) and a minimum of carpentry skills, is home to three two year olds and five six month old hens. An investment of time and energy proved to be as important as money in housing this feathered family. Both chickens and vegetables thrive in our backyard thanks to fenced limits. The chickens, responsible for keeping weeds in check, share excess crops - cooperation at its best.
Chickens rule! Or so it seems on our small but growing suburban farm. We have nine one year old hens of six breeds that provide the heart of our ecological approach to landscape design. The ornamental and food production gardens, now in their third year, include elements that link garden rooms on a heavily wooded acre. Fundamentals of permaculture, sustainable design and water conservation are on display.
"GiGi's Playhouse Coop" is a repurposed playhouse to six beautiful, friendly hens. It has been elevated to provide weather and sun shelter for the hens. The chicken run (23x27) is entirely covered to provide protection from predator hawks. Visitors are invited to observe Speck, Ruby, Rose, Pearl, Opal and Queen from the custom pergola deck.
La maison des poulet is located right off of Millbrook Rd. La maison is nestled in the corner of our backyard which includes a raised garden, compost pile and plenty of room for our girls (chickens) and boys (sons and dogs) to play. We built our coop over a two month period using both recycled and new materials. The coop is based on the "all in one" design. We modified the design to include ample storage and a large covered walk and run.
We are new to backyard chickens, but so far the experience has been wonderful. We have five, one year old Plymouth Rocks. The coop (8'x12' run with 4'x12' elevated coop) was designed to match our 1940s board and batten house. We believe strongly in local food sources and wanted to provide an example of this concept to our young children. What's more local than your own backyard?
This backyard chicken heaven, nestled in an edible landscape, features a greenhouse-chicken yard connection, natural perches and easy access to a rainbow of blue green, light brown and dark brown eggs. The garden demonstrates how the integrate chickens with dogs, cats, honey bees, gardens, children's play areas and a swimming pool. Our eight year old chicken whisperer will be available for consultation, along with a square foot gardening expert, members of the Triangle Area Gardeners and Homesteaders, Extension Master Gardeners, and a Permaculture Designer from Branches: Ecological Landscapes. Visiting kids who are well supervised by accompanying adults will have lots of fun.
We have two semi retired beauties (seven years old) three wayward teens and some young'uns for a total of nine! Our chickens are a vital part of our permaculture based garden - providing eggs and manure and eating kitchen wastes and bugs. The 0.3A garden has over 50 fruit cultivars, vegetables, an herb spiral, mushroom logs, water catchment, frog ponds, zip line, solar water panels and clay pizza oven.
My coop is located at the back of my property. Its roof structure ties into a barn/shop that I built out of a salvaged tobacco barn originally built in the 1880's. The materials used to build the coop were chosen to blend in with the recycled tobacco barn and consist of rough cut pine and cedar purchased from a local logger/sawyer in Chatham County.
Our .22 acre lot features a small organic garden, honeybees, and what we jokingly refer to as the "Taj Mah Coop". We have four beautiful hens that keep us well stocked with eggs. Four breeds are represented: Ameracauna, Red Star (a sexlink), Speckled Sussex, and Welsummer. Come on by and see how you can get a small slice of country heaven just outside of downtown Raleigh.
Our flock of twelve Dominiques with rooster has evolved over four years. This heritage breed is considered the oldest in America, fitting for our 1804 brick house. With raccoons, fox and coyote from Umstead State Park, we upgraded from an A-frame tractor coop (on display) to a secure raised coop built into an open shed with living roof, extensive run and access to free range in the woods.
After almost six months of research on various coop designs, we settled on a custom built country French style coop complete with a stained glass window accent. Nothing but the best for our girls! Our chez poulet is home to six sweet and lovely hens - all under six months old. Come visit Coco, Lucille, Marigold, Violet, Ginger and Cinnamon Raisin.
Come visit this beautiful coop just outside of Cary. The coop leverages the practical design of a garden shed and attached run that has been tastefully integrated into the landscaping. The sturdy, owner built construction includes an automatic door, exterior access to nests and careful safeguards to resist predators. These faithfully producing hens enjoy year-round comfort and protection.
As avid DIYers, we built our chicken coop to blend with our home and garden. Home to eight Buff Orpingtons and six Silver Laced Wyandottes, the coop is raised above the ground with three windows, four nesting boxes and a wide access door. The coop is connected to a well-fortified run with two compartments: one is covered with a tin roof and the other surrounds a large crepe myrtle tree. The landscaped one-acre garden has been on numerous garden tours and was featured on the UNC-TV show, "In the Garden with Bryce Lane."
