magazines
Backyard Poultry Magazine - Dedicated to increasing and improving small-flock poultry. Each issue contains informative articles on breed selection, housing, management, health and nutrition, rare and historic breeds, news and views, plus other topics of interest to promote the raising of small-scale poultry.
Portland Spaces - This links you to the magazine's January 2009 article "Belles of the Backyard," a concise, well illustrated explanation of different breeds, plus coop tips and more. The Garden Coop even makes an appearance on page 6!
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general websites/blogs
Chicken Resources On The Web - An excellent place for any small-flock chickenkeeper to start. Author John Henderson has curated list of quality links to forums, hatcheries, breed info, and resources for chicken health, care, and processing. Check out his links to several early 20th century books on chickenkeeping.
ChickenKeeping.com - An elegant site, written simply and cleanly with lots of good information to get started with a backyard flock.
UrbanChickens.net - This blog about urban chicken farming covers a whole range of topics, from choosing your chicks to changing your local ordinances.
DigginFood.com - So you're growing your own food -- now what do you do with it? This site is dedicated to answering that question, with growing guides, recipes, and stories about growing and enjoying real food. There's also plenty of good info specifically about raising chickens.
BackyardChickens.com - Nice, comprehensive site on raising chickens in the city, suburbs, and country, including an image gallery for coop ideas.
BackyardPoultry.com - Comprehensive site with very active forum, directory, and links dealing with keeping chickens in Australia and New Zealand.
MichaelPollan.com - Pollan is one of the most articulate writers on the subject of food and food quality today. His classic The Omnivore's Dilemma is a must-must-must read, especially if you're going to be raising and enjoying your own farmstead eggs. All of his books and writings are linked from his site.
Small Scale Poultry Housing - This fact sheet from the Virginia Cooperative Extension is a concise summary of what to consider when building a coop.
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community websites
Growing Gardens (Portland, OR) - This organization supports low-income households with gardening resources, offers afterschool garden clubs, sponsors workshops and work parties, and teaches gardeners all about growing, preparing, and preserving healthful food. The link takes you to the chicken resources area of their site.
UrbanChickens.org (Albuquerque, NM) - Educational and networking site run by city farmers KT LaBadie and Mark Scully in Albuquerque.
SeattleTilth.org (Seattle, WA) - This nationally recognized non-profit organization works to cultivate a sustainable community in Seattle, one garden (and chicken coop) at a time. The link takes you to a great collection of local chicken info.
COOP: Chicken Owners Outside (And In) Philadephia - This group is a friendly cooperative of Philadelphia-area chicken owners. Check out their nice feed of chicken-keeping-related news. And if you're keeping chickens near Philly, get in touch with them.
Pioneer Valley Backyard Chicken Association (Western Massachusetts) - This community group features chicken workshops and consultations, an annual coop tour, a chicken-sitter list, and more to help chicken keepers in the area.
JustFood.org (New York, NY) - This organization has been working since 1994 to build a stronger regional food system in the New York City area. Their City Chickens resources page tells you more about them and offers links to everything you need to get started.
Urban Chicken Advocates of Nashville (TN) - UCAN successfully advocated to legalize backyard chicken keeping in Nashville. Now they lead educational programs to help people get started.
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organic gardening
DripWorks - Save water and time in your garden with a drip irrigation system. DripWorks offers all the supplies and advice you'll need, and their customer service is great.
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chicken feed and supplies
Naomi's Organic Farm Supply (Portland, OR) - Naomi and Neil run an amazing farm/garden supply shop with everything you need for your chickens, goats, pets, soil, and garden — plus books, workshops, and great advice.
Urban Farm Store (Portland, OR) - Thoughful, healthful, quality foods and products for your chicks and chickens, right in the heart of the city.
Birds & Bees Nursery (Portland, OR) - Feed and supplies for chickens, wild birds, and bees plus an edible plant nursery, cards and gifts, and more.
City Folk's Farm Shop (Columbus, OH) - Supplies for urban gardening, animal rearing, and homesteading in Central Ohio, plus workshops and other community resources.
MyPetChicken.com - Offers everything you need to get started — baby chicks, accessories, books, coop plans, gifts, etc. They also have a very informative section on chicken care.
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chicken selection and care
Pickin' Chicken Breed Selector App by Mother Earth News - This chicken breed selector app for iOS was developed by true chicken enthusiasts to help you find the perfect chicken breed for your situation.
Henderson's Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart - An alphabetical list of dozens of chicken breeds, comparing size, egg color, personality, and special requirements.
The Egg-Cellent Guide to Chicken Breeds - Wells Poultry in the UK created this quick visual reference to more than two dozen chicken breeds from around the world.
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architecture and design
Portland Architecture - I've enjoyed reading this blog for years. The writing is engaging and covers a broad range of topics from architecture in town and around the world to historic preservation, sustainability, and more.
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people food
Full of Life Farm - If you're in Oregon's Willamette Valley or the San Francisco Bay area and are looking for grass-fed, pasture-raised poultry, beef, pork, turkey, goat, and eggs, farmer Bernard Smith is doing it right. And his eggs are as good as from the backyard! We get a dozen or so whenever our own flock takes a break from laying.
Cultures for Health - You raise your own eggs, why not make your own yogurt, sourdough bread, sauerkraut, or kombucha tea? Check the site for these and other ways to make probiotics a regular part of your diet -- and to save by doing it yourself.
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films and fun
Mad City Chickens Movie - This documentary film (2009 release) weaves together stories about city chickens and their keepers, featuring voices from the fast-growing international backyard chicken movement. Includes interviews with Mother Earth News Editor-in-Chief, Cheryl Long, a behind-the-scenes look at Murray McMurray Hatchery, nutritional info on pastured eggs, and more.
Victory Garden of Tomorrow - Portland artist Joe Wirtheim's poster art project is a contemporary take on mid-century propaganda posters. Homegrown meets the home front. See the whole series, available for purchase at his Etsy shop.
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coop builders
Here's a working list of some folks who might be able to help you build The Garden Coop or The Garden Ark designs if you'd rather not do it yourself. As independent builders, they are not affiliated with The Garden Coop LLC, but they have built from our plans before and should be able to provide you examples of their work.
Independence Gardens (Portland, OR) - Karen and Isabel help people start their own food gardens, consulting on design and building just about any garden structure you might need — including chicken coops.
Microfarm Organic Gardens (Charlotte, NC) - This North Carolina company is dedicated solely to organic edible gardening. In addition to getting you set up with a backyard chicken coop, they offer garden design, maintenance, and other gardening services.
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local chicken coop tours
Please email us if you know of a local tour that's not on the list or info that needs to be updated.
Alabama
Le Tour de Coop (Mobile, AL)
Arizona
City Chickens Coop Tour (Tucson, AZ)
Tour de Coops (Phoenix, AZ)
California
Tour de Cluck (Davis, CA)
Pleasant Valley Coop Tour (Novato, CA)
Colorado
Tour de Coop (Ft. Collins, CO)
Georgia
Urban Coop Tour (Atlanta, GA)
Idaho
Boise Tour de Coop (Boise, ID)
Illinois
Windy City Coop Tour (Chicago, IL)
Massachusetts
Chicken Coop Tour (Pioneer Valley of Western MA)
New Mexico
Albuquerque Coop and Garden Tour (Albuquerque, NM)
North Carolina
Tour d'Coop (Raleigh, NC)
Oregon
Capital City Coop Tour (Salem, OR)
M-I Coop Tour (Monmouth & Independence, OR)
Bend's Chicken Coop Tour (Bend, OR)
Eugene Coop Tour (Eugene, OR)
Tour de Coops (Portland, OR)
Coop and Garden Tour (La Pine, OR)
Texas
Funky Chicken Coop Tour (Austin, TX)
A Peep At The Coops (Dallas, TX)
Oak Cliff Coop Snoop (Dallas, TX)
Utah
Chicken Week/Tour de Coops (Salt Lake City, UT)
Washington
City Chickens Coop Tour (Seattle, WA)
Wisconsin
Mad City Chicken Coop Tour (Madison, WI)
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