There are some new chicken owners that are just. so. excited! about getting chickens.  This is one of those families.  The shop used to have a pullet program (it was discontinued because of space constraints).  We would raise birds to 9 weeks old (or until they could go outside).  This family was one of our pullet program families.  Each week they would come in to visit the birds and they watched them grow from baby chicks to awkward teenagers to lovely little pullets.  Only problem was one of their lovely little pullets wasn’t so lovely.

For some reason one of the girls’ rear feathers wouldn’t grow in.  She was quite bald.  Very very bald.  We worried that the family wouldn’t want the bird and we didn’t have a backup plan.  We had no clue why her rear feathers wouldn’t grow in either.  The family had fallen in love with this bald little girl and were excited to have her.  The story has an even better ending.  The hen’s rear feathers finally grew in and now you can’t tell her apart from her twin sister.  See…

Ok, that might be her sister.  See, I can’t even tell.

Oh the coop!  Right.  Sorry.

This coop is very similar to my own, only better built.  Alison used recycled shutter to give the front of the coop some character.  She covers the sides of the coop (pictured) with a tarp to protect it from wind and rain.  The girls have a little free range area around the coop and occasionally out into the garden.

This family has two young children who love their chickens.  The girls have been a great addition to the family.

The Second Tacoma Urban Coop Tour is Saturday, June 23rd from 10-4.  Tickets are $5 for adults, kids 16 and under are free.  You can purchase your tickets and map to all of the coops at GardenSphere.