A couple of summers ago I did an article for Seattle Magazine about the trend of urban chicken-keeping that was sweeping Seattle, and surely still is. The story was instigated by a trip on the City Chicken Coop Tour, put on by Seattle Tilth. It snuck up on me this year, the tour for 2008 is this Saturday, July 12. Go to their web site to check out info on tickets and such. Hopefully it’s not too late to get tickets!!

It’s a self-guided tour throughout different Seattle neighborhoods. You’ll get a map, with hours, etc. and off you go, popping from one backyard to the next. You’ll be amazed at the cool domiciles folks build for their chickens, and you’ll learn plenty along the way talking with the owners about the breeds of bird they choose, their surprisingly pet-like countenance and how amazingly delicious their eggs are. Here are a few pictures from that last tour I went on.

 

Oh, and if this gets your feathers all a-flutter about maybe keeping chickens yourself one day, Seattle Tilth also offers some how-to classes on the subject. I attended City Chickens 101 as part of my research for that magazine article (just a couple hours on a Saturday). And they occasionally offer an advanced 201 class with more detailed discussion about chicken health, feeding, housing, etc. How incredibly Seattle, don’t you think? I was secretly thinking about trying to arrange a little chicken condo in our tiny backyard, but that just wouldn’t be right. I content myself instead with buying delicious eggs at the farmers markets in town.