Coop Tour Season!

Keeping a few hens in the backyard has become so popular that advocates in many cities have organized tours of local coops. Raleigh, North Carolina chicken lovers have been admiring each other's coops for years. The 6th Annual Henside the Beltline Chicken Tour is May 21st.

Henside the Beltline Tour de Coop is a one-day garden tour that seeks to educate visitors about keeping hens in an urban environment. Learn the how-tos of chicken keeping, meet the chickens and see a wide variety of coop styles. 100% of the tour proceeds benefit Urban Ministries of Wake County, a non-profit organization that provides essential food and medical services to close to 20,000 Triangle residents annually. The 2010 Tour collected 2000 pounds of food and raised $5,300 for Urban Ministries. http://www.urbanmin.org/.

For more information or high resolution photos visit our website tourdcoop.com or contact Rick Bennett at 919-609-9205 or rbennett16@nc.rr.com.

This list highlights some of them. Check around your chicken friends to find out whether your area has one. If not, perhaps you are the one to get it started!

Alameda, California, May http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-05-13/entertainment/20896062_1_chicken-game-tour-stop
Albuquerque, New Mexico, July http://albuquerquecooptour.com/
Atlanta, Georgia, Urban Chicken Coop Tour, May http://www.georgiaorganics.org/events/
Austin, Texas, Funky Chicken Coop Tour, April http://fccooptour.blogspot.com/
Bend, Oregon, May http://bendchickens.com/default.aspx
Dallas, Texas, A Peep at the Coops, April, http://apeepatthecoops.blogspot.com/
Davis, California Tour de Cluck, May http://www.tourdecluck.org/
Denver, Colorado, October, http://www.denverurbanhomesteading.com/new_page_3.htm
Jackson County, southern Illinois, Coops du Jour, June http://www.coopsdujour.com/
Milton, Massachusetts Tour de Coops, October, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=350166180061
Phoenix, Arizona Tour de Coops, http://tourdecoops.org/
Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, April http://hilltownfamilies.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/pvbca-2/
Portland, Oregon, July http://www.growing-gardens.org/portland-gardening-resources/chickens.php
Salt Lake City, Utah, Tour de Coops, June http://wasatchgardens.org/chicken-week/tour-de-coop
Seattle, Washington, July http://seattletilth.org/special_events/citychickenstour09
Spokane, Washington, June sfsr@gmail.com, http://groups.google.com/group/SF-SpokaneRiverInfo/browse_thread/thread/dcd088ad0f88fb93?pli=1