Chicken coop tour, great fun!

[tomato lady]

Yesterday was the Tour de Coop in Portland, OR. We went and I learned three things.

1) you can build a coop out of anything! We saw some interesting designs and some that were put together entirely out of old reused stuff -- lots of different kinds of stuff.

2) you can put a chicken coop in just about any small and/or strange shaped area.

3) there is a very active urban chicken culture in Portland. Many of the chicken people were also gardners so we got to view a lot of backyard vegetable gardens too.

One lady had her chickens in the same pen as her goats (yes, goats in urban Portland). She said the chickens ate the goat poo. Sounds kind of icky to me, but I have goats and it made me think. If I ran my chickens with my goats, I would only have chicken poo. Then, if I let my dog into the pen, I would only have dog poo.

I'm not likely to try that any time soon!

 

[cmom]

Chickens love to scratch around in horse manure too.

 

[mikecnorthwest]

We did the tour also. We had a lot of fun but the hot weather was a bit of drag. I don't know about you, but we were not able to make it around to all the stops in just the 4 hours provided. We're already looking forward to next year.

 

[tomato lady]

We didn't make it to all of the coops either. I think we saw over half of them. It was warm, but not super hot like today. We live up by Mt. Rainier and I picked my son-in-law up in Tacoma so it was a long drive for us.

I guess I was surprised at the little bit of space it took to raise chickens. I live on 5 acres and am just adding my 2nd coop. My only restriction is how much money I can afford to spend and how many post holes I am willing to dig.

 

[Gwen]

I went too. I had to finally succumb to the air conditioner as I drove between coops. And I was dying of thirst but didn't want to stop until it was over so I could see as many as possible.

I saw nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 19. Having a gps system in the car was invaluable.

I loved seeing the gardens and settings. #19 was a charming garden setting, but what was that smell?!?!

I tried to pick the places that looked like they had the largest coops because that's what I'm going for. I also really loed #14 where the two neighbors shared the chickens. I loved that. I butt up to some neighbors that are very aggreeable to that idea and may even in the future possibly see about sharing goats with a neighbor as we both have the ideal location butting next to each other. I think it's just a great idea and am encouraged that others are doing it.

It was a great tour but if I had known the Bainbridge Island coop tour was the same day, I would have opted for the shorter drive! Plus, I assume some of those coops were on large pieces of property and therefore it would have been a more informative coop tour for me. Oh, well. I have to bite the bullet and decide what to do. I have 4-week olds in the garage right now!

 

[Bosque]

I really wanted to go, but i moved from Wilsonville to Arizona three weeks ago. Maybe next year...

What was your faverite coop and why?

 

[alycoop]

I went! I only made it to half of them. There just wasn't time to do all in the time allotted.

I thought the greenhouse made of recycled glass doors and windows was super cool! THAT is my next project!

Loved the one in SE Pdx with the massive rock boulder water feature and all the shade. Also loved the shingled coop in the small but oh so well thought out back garden. That was just off of NE Ainsworth St.

I was struck by how little space some people had yet still made the space productive and it looked nice. Only down side was that a few places were a bit of a mess. If I know my place is on a tour and people are paying to view I'm gonna make sure the place is tidy.

Anyway, I came home with ideas and am rarin' to go.

 

[blackfootfarm]

Awwww man! I live down in Southern Oregon and had I known I would have went. I could have made it a dual trip since my grandparents live in Oregon City! Did you take any pics? Or do they have a site where they are posted? Is there a club up there?

 

[rebbetzin]

We had a chicken coop tour here in Tucson a while back. But I didn't find our in time to go.

A friend of mine has chickens and goats in a very expensive neighborhood here. She and her neighbor built an area for milk goats between their two properties. They are enjoying the goats and chickens. Here in Tucson most people are pretty nice about having livestock in nextdoor to them. We have horses here in the city if you have a lot big enough to have a decent corral. We do have one stipulation on livestock, you have to clean up after them every 24 hours.

 

[Jaclyn]

I attended the 6th annual tour de coops and had a very good time. It was our last day of bicycle touring in Portland so we focused on the coops that took us from downtown to the airport where we were staying our final night (to take apart and pack the tandem bicycle). We saw seven coops (including the Urban Farm Store displays).

I want to thank the coop owners who graciously opened their backyards to the 700+ participants in this year's event. They were wonderful to share their chickens, coops and gardens and answer so many questions. It would have been very helpful for me to have experienced this before I adopted my eight chicks last spring.

Many thanks to owners and organizers!