Windy City Coop Tour

[lydia.d.mills]

Attention chicken lovers! The weekend of September 20th is the annual Windy City Coop Tour. Check out their website for maps, guidelines and more!

From the press release:

Angelic Organics Learning Center and the Chicagoland Chicken Enthusiasts organize the Tour so visitors can browse and learn from practical examples.  During the free, self-guided event, visitors hear about hosts’ experiences raising healthy chickens in the city and suburbs. According to Anika Byrley, whose family keeps chickens in Logan Square, “We love the Tour and look forward to hosting because we enjoy sharing with others how enjoyable, easy, and rewarding keeping backyard chickens can be.”

Many city-dwelling poultry keepers have integrated their coops with gardening, composting, rainwater harvesting, and other demonstrations of backyard food production and sustainable urban lifestyles. First-time Host Eric Staswick’s urban farm/yard in Albany Park is home to chickens, ducks, dairy goats, and assorted vegetables and fruits. He says, “We keep chickens because we believe it’s important to understand the food cycle and where our food comes from. We want our kids to understand that food is grown, not manufactured.”