Beginning Thoughts for the Hampton Roads Coop Tour

This Little Red Hen is Ready to Step out in Style!

4 Chesapeake Hens and other chicken groups in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia are in the beginning stages of planning a coop tour. A coop tour is like an open house, but it's for visitors of chickens and their coops rather than the owners' homes. Our group hosted a local tour in Chesapeake last year and had a lot of fun. This year we would like to make it more regional. We also plan to make it a benefit fundraiser for a great regional group that is in need of financial support right now: Buy Fresh, Buy Local, Hampton Roads.

Our first meeting, on January 9, hosted dynamic leadership from both Portsmouth and Chesapeake. Sharon Jackson represented Portsmouth Hen Keepers, Wendy Camacho and Danielle Rawls represented Hampton Roads Hens, and my husband, Don, and I represented 4 Chesapeake Hens along with Saad Ringa, our groups' highly esteemed computer guru. Saad is also the regional documentary-keeper for all things chicken when it comes to City Council meetings, as can be seen by the various speeches preserved on his YouTube Channel.


This is what we decided at our meeting.

1. The name of the event will be the "Hampton Roads Coop Tour." We will encourage the use of a chicken on all flyers and other publicity about the event, so the public realizes we are touring chicken coops and not a type of car.
2. Our intention is to host the event from 11 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, May 24th, with Saturday, May 31st as a rain date.
3. Our group intends to charge a $5.00 per carload non-refundable minimum donation to "Buy Fresh, Buy Local, Hampton Roads" for tickets to attend the event. We are hoping that BFBLHR will sell the tickets directly to the public online, perhaps through Eventbrite, as well as help us spread the word about the event online and through news releases. The use of Eventbrite should allow BFBLHR to post a couple of reminders about the event in the week(s) and day(s) leading up to the tour, as well as to message ticket-holders regarding inclement weather, if needed. They should also be able to send out a link to all ticket-holders with the exact locations and addresses of all the coops on the tour (see below).
4. There was a little confusion on last year's tour with people showing up at someone's house on the wrong date. Furthermore, if this event goes as regional as we would like, there may be more coops available, and more spread-out coops, than what is possible to see in the space of five hours. To address those issues, we will post descriptions of the coops on the tour and the general location or region, but the exact addresses will only be available to paid ticket-holders through a link sent on the Monday before the event, i.e., Monday, May 19. Ticket-holders should have enough information to plan out their tours in advance regarding region(s) to visit, or types of coops they desire to see, so they can use their time efficiently on the day of the tour and see the coops that most interest them.
5. So far chicken-keepers in Portsmouth and Chesapeake have committed to this event. Sharon will take the lead in organizing the Portsmouth portion, and Wendy and Mary Lou will lead the Chesapeake efforts. But the tour can expand into other regions of Hampton Roads if leaders come forward to take charge of surrounding regions. Such leadership should be familiar with backyard chickens and will be in charge of being a general contact person, generating local publicity, answering questions, being familiar with local ordinances regarding chicken-keeping, seeing that materials are distributed to coop owners as needed, bringing potential problems to Mary Lou or Wendy, and helping Saad gather the data he needs to put together the coop descriptions, related map, addresses, etc. This sounds like a lot but can be done as part of a regional effort.
6. The issue of illegal coop-owners possibly wanting to be on the tour was raised. Mary Lou said that several people who committed to the Chesapeake Tour last year backed out close to the tour date, which was confusing and unfair to those who wanted to go on the tour plus frustrating for the event's organizers. Part of reason was cold feet on the part of homeowners when the reality hit that strangers, including potentially influential people, such as members of the media or area City Council, would be showing up on the tour. But many who backed out stated that they suddenly realized their coops were not 100% legal: the coop was too close to the property line, they had more hens than the legal limit, etc. This year, we plan to emphasize that signing up for the coop tour is a commitment, including for the rain date if necessary, and that participants are responsible for ensuring they have the dates set aside and are in compliance with local ordinances before signing their coops up for the tour.
7. Some coop owners had asked about a separate tour for coop owners to view each others' coops. The consensus at the meeting is that we would not do so this year. It is complicated enough to organize one event without organizing two. Most coop-owners in the region can contact each other through social media and arrange private tours of coops they are interested in seeing.
8. Some have raised the issue of Biosecurity for the flocks participating on the tour. We felt we should take precautions just in case. Wendy said she has a contact that can recommend good shoe coverings at a reasonable price and will get us the details. The idea is to require visitors to each property to put on the shoe coverings before visiting the flock and then to leave the shoe coverings for the next group of visitors to re-use. This way, each flock's poop will stay on that flock's property and greatly reduce the chance of spreading disease from flock to flock. Coop owners will also be required to have hand sanitizer at each location and to encourage visitors to use it.
9. Regarding publicity, Sharon said she would make up a flyer for the event as soon as the details are finalized with BFBLHR. Wendy said she would help distribute them at "Chicken 101" educational events and possibly at the Chesapeake Jubilee if she can get a table.
10. Saad Ringa will help organize the computer end of the event for our groups, particularly managing the maps, contact information, etc., for those who decide to sign up their coops for the tour. Saad will probably use online forms for this purpose.
11. If BFBLHR is interested, our coop owners will probably be willing to distribute materials for them to help raise awareness about the organization and about all the great local foods available in our region. All we would need is to receive those materials well enough in advance of the tour.

We are still waiting on a final decision from BFBLHR's Board of Directors about this event, but initial signs are that they are interested in partnering with us.

Update on 1/27/14: We got the go-ahead from the Board of Directors. If you live in the area and wish to sign your coop  up for the tour, check out this post.

Should I Start My Backyard Flock With Hens or Chicks?

Mary Lou Burke, thank you for asking me to contribute to your blog page.

A number of folks have asked us, “Where do we get our hens?”  They are also asking, “Are chicks or grown hens better?”

 It is my opinion that to start out, you are better off purchasing pullets, young hens that are just beginning to lay eggs. This way you will be sure that you are getting a hen not a rooster. You will be getting eggs shortly after your purchase resulting in an immediate return from your investment.  You also have at least 5 years of egg production ahead of you.  If you choose 1-2 year old hens it is the similar to purchasing pullets. Remember, hens drop in egg production each year, so I don't suggest starting out with older hens.

A lot of you would like to have chicks. Keep in mind that with chicks you cannot be 100% sure you are getting hens even if you ask the seller for hens only.  In a purchase of 25 straight pullets I recently received 3 roosters.  By the time you can positively tell your chicks are roosters, your family is attached to them, and you have to try to get rid of them. (Most city ordinances do not allow roosters). Chicks require time, food and steady care for several months, at least 5, before they begin to lay, hence delaying an immediate return on your purchase and care costs. In addition, several hatching businesses have a minimum amount you have to buy. The minimum is often 25, so you will need to find some other folks to order chicks with.  Remember, when ordering from a hatchery to specify you only want hens; a straight run is a mix of roosters and hens. 

*If you feel you must have chicks I would suggest you purchase ½ of the amount of hens you can have as pullets and ½ as chicks; that way, while you are waiting for the chicks to mature and lay, the pullets are laying for you.

 As to how to purchase your pullets or chicks, I would like to recommend a few words of caution. With the enthusiasm over backyard hens, sadly, comes a few unscrupulous sellers. Make sure you are buying from a reputable person/business. Take someone that is familiar with hens along with you when you buy your hens, do your research, and  KNOW  the difference between hens and roosters (when buying pullets it is easy to tell), ask for references and guarantees  IN WRITING.  If the seller REFUSES to give you a written guarantee that you are getting hens NOT roosters, and if they will not trade any roosters you get from them for hens, once they grow up and you can tell for sure, I suggest you purchase from someone else. Verbal guarantees do NOT hold.

 As to where to purchase your pullets or chicks, there are chicken swaps held at most feed stores, which are often posted on local Facebook chicken sites. Craigslist usually has hens listed; do not buy without seeing them. Other chicken folks may know someone with hens for sale, and the various chicken Facebook pages always have hens and chicks for sale. There are several commercial hatcheries online. Local feed stores are a great resource for finding chicks or hens.  

Contact a local Facebook Chicken group for assistance.

Some, but not all, local Hampton Roads Facebook chicken groups are:

1.   4 Chesapeake Hens

2.   Hampton Roads Hens

3.   Portsmouth Hen Keepers 

I hope this helps you; please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. We definitely want to know about the good news, but we also need to know about the bad so we can help others avoid it.

 Happy chicken-keeping, folks!

Portsmouth Hen Keepers founder, Sharon Jackson