A-Frame

Posted by Steve Rice (Olympia, United States) on 24 August 2009 in Cityscape & Urban.

This modest looking coop has some ingenious features. The top portion is where the chickens sleep and is enclosed by a panel. This keeps them warm and fairly safe from raccoons. The birds can still go down to the bottom portion, enclosed by wire, if they wish. That can prove their undoing if a raccoon has spooked them and caused them to exit the safety of the upper portion of the coop. It seems chickens will run around in circles and then huddle in a corner. When that happens, the raccoon reaches in and grabs a chicken dinner. So, the owner has added three wires,held up by plastic insulators, that run around the outside of that lower portion of the coop. Those wires are electrified and help convince the raccoons to try somewhere else.

Since this coop was so close to the house next door, I asked the owner if he had any problems with complaints. He said no because he gives neighbors eggs and his chickens are a big hit with the neighborhood kids. Also, no one on the tour keeps roosters. That keeps the noise level way down and the complaints too, I would guess.

As far as the city goes, it's legal to keep up to three chickens without any permit in Portland. For more than three, you apply to Multnomah County, pay a $31 fee, undergo an inspection, and receive a permit.

Tour de Coops, Portland, OR, USA

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