A Peep at the Coops

Last Sunday we made a family outing to the annual Tour of Coops in Dallas.  It's just like a tour of homes, but instead it highlights local chicken coops in their increasingly popular urban setting.  We started out at the Stonewall Gardens Children's Learning Center where we got to visit with some of the students and their colorful variety of friendly chickens.  Rylin loved this!  We picked up our map of coops and set out to tour half of them.  The first three were VERY cool.  One with a run behind the fence next to the ally, another built in Tudor style like the home it was constructed by, and all with beautiful gardens around them.  I was amazed at the creativity these chicken owners displayed in their seemingly small urban back yards.  It really got me inspired.  I love the chicken coop my brother made me and I think it suits us well, but our back yard leaves something to be desired.  I've been doing all I can just to get some grass to grow and with the hap hazard play area that Rylin has, it looks a little blah.  So in the next few months I hope to add in some plants (specifically blackberries, climbing vines, and more herbs) and update Rylin's play area with a little more natural feel.  Sadly, we found out that our big maple tree in the back has to come down so I've devised a table of sorts from the stump that will be left.  We'll have to see how it turns out as I might just end up having it ground up by the landscapers.  Another thing I took away from the tour is that these chickens need some art!  Yes, you read that right.  Almost every coop we toured had art hanging in it.  I thought it was hilarious and added a bit of character, so this week I added a few watercolors to our coop...