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Portland
Tour de Coops
Portland's Coolest Pet
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Tour-goers
will have a chance to check out home chicken coops, ask fowl questions and
learn about backyard chicken keeping.
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Chicken
Coop Tour
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For
more information on the Tour De Coop please contact:
Phone:
503-284-8420
WEBSITE:
Tour
De Coop
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Article
& Photographs by Alexa Meisler
For Oregon.com
Is it possible
I am the only person in Portland who doesn't own my own chickens? It seems
every time I turn around I am introduced to a few more urban chickens. Clearly
they are the "it" pet of ecologically-and sustainability-minded
pet people. Granted, chickens provide the daily gift of fresh eggs, but
when did us city dwellers begin to bring a little bit of the farm back into
our lives?
Chickens are such a popular pet in Portland and surrounding areas, Growing-Gardens
(growing-gardens.org), a nonprofit that teaches and helps folks develop
and maintain community gardens, hosts an annual self-guided citywide chicken
coop tour called 'Portland Tour De Coops'.
The event allows tour-goers a chance to check out home chicken coops, ask
fowl questions, learn about backyard chicken keeping and help out a worthy
cause. All proceeds help support growing-gardens.org and its work to build
gardens and provide seeds, plants and classes for low-income households.
Portland city code states three chickens are allowed without a permit. And
just why should the average egg eating individual think about adding hens
to their family? Besides fresh eggs, there are a multitude of good reasons
to think about chickens as pets. They offer everything from bug and slug
control, provide nitrogen-rich fertilizer, and they are really fun to watch.
 "The
truth is, it wasn't so long ago most American households included chickens"
says Barbara Kilarski, Portland resident and author of 'Keep Chickens!'
She says, "Raising chickens satisfies an intrinsic and basic human
right to feed oneself. No other farm animal is as adaptable to small-space
living as the chicken."
Angela Molloy-Murphy, director of Rowanberry School (rowanberryschool.com),
a mixed-age kindergarten program located in NE Portland, is proud mama to
her flock of three; Pepper, Betsy and Camilla.
"I always wanted chickens, but getting them for the school sealed the
deal for me. I chose banties, they are smaller and easier for the children
to hold"
"They are so endearing. I love these ladies" says Molloy-Murphy.
Nancy Walker, resident of SW Portland and mother to twin five year-old boys,
says her two chicks were an impulse buy from an exotic animal fair. "They
lay eggs; this is a practical and ecological pet and educational for the
boys." thought Walker who soon realized it was far more work than she
expected.
"I wasn't prepared. I didn't have a coop for them and it was too cold
for them to be outside" she explains.
After converting a portion of her kitchen into the chick's temporary home,
she realized the addition of straw chicken poop on the floor was not optimal.
Living on one acre, housing chicks in her kitchen was not how she imagined
this playing out. Clearly the message is 'be prepared' when adding to the
family!
"I thought I could allow them to be free range." Say Walker. "Because
the property is not fenced in, I realized we would have to build a coop.
Ironically, I think if you have a house in the flats and they could be in
that kind of space they can roam around easier".
The addition of chickens to Walker's home, wasn't an overnight adjustment,
but a year later, the chickens have a first-class coop and she is enjoying
the fresh eggs.
If the idea of backyard chickens has piqued your interest, check out Tour
De Coops or sign up for a growing-gardens.org 'Urban Chicken-Keeping 101
-an introductory workshop on raising chickens in the city class.
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