Chickens kick ass! Consider me an official backyard fowl convert. Last Saturday was the 2009 Funky Chicken Coop Tour. It’s like an open house tour, but you know, for chickens.
Basically, anyone who wants to show off their urban bird-raising setup, signs up. Then, maps are distributed telling the curious hordes where to go. It’s all free, it’s all low-key, it’s all way too much fun.
Towns like Portland and Seattle have been doing it for a few years but this was Austin’s first foray into the arena of showing off city chickens.
We started at our friends Mando and Ixchel’s place. They have a Red Sex-link hen and an adorable little Barred Rock chicklet. You may remember that Mando is a taco savant, so it only made sense that he busted out his disco to cook up some amazing migas tacos for his visitors.
Tacos and bird watching.
His delicious tortilla packets inspired us to pair up our chicken circuit with a mini taco tour as well. We even skipped the pollo tacos out of respect.
Carol Ann and Onesie the One Eyed Chicken.
Our second stop was just down the street at Boggy Creek Farms, one of Austin’s shining gems. Carol Ann and Larry raise over sixty birds in their utilitarian, but oh so comfy coop.
Lunch is served. I think this cabbage was grown four feet to the left.
I loved watching all of the personalities on display. This gal was quite the show woman (show chicken?).
When we finally dragged ourselves away, we were feeling quite peckish. A couple blocks from the farm is an adorable little place called Pan y Vino. We’ve seen it but never ventured inside. Despite the name, it’s a hardcore taco bar.
The carne guisada filled tortilla was nice, but something about the ridiculous, spicy carb overload of the papas rancheras taco really spoke to me. I mean, in what world do you eat a half-pound of boiled French fries drenched in salsa and consider going back for more?
After washing everything down with our tamarind Jarritos we headed off to another excellent Austin green zone, Rain Lily Farm. We’ve had the pleasure of rocking some Dai Due dinners here in the past, but it was lots of fun to go and check out their happy birds.
Adorable goat in a tiny house. I know it's not a chicken. Sheesh.
As a bonus they had a passel of tiny spring peeps, tucked away in their greenhouse. Even though one looked just like an angry old man, the whole patch was dangerously cute.
Watch out for the chick that tried to eat my camera.
We left Rain Lily and headed over to an insanely fabulous old historic home that used to be known as the Academy around the turn of last century. The owners have done a great job restoring the old property and their playful diligence has obviously extended to their henhouse.
Once I realized that the proprietors weren’t too keen on me moving in, we loaded up and headed around the corner to Edgecliff.
Got to love a fat pig bench.
Van, the de facto chicken dad, has ten Cuckoo Marans that I can’t help but believe he bought for the name alone.
His olive, a-frame coop had a certain militaristic utilitarian charm that made his plump fowl seem even happier. One of them was reveling in such an indulgent dirt bath that I felt a little embarrassed just watching.
At the same time that he got his chickens, Van also acquired two beehives. Not only do they pollinate all of his flowers and vegetables, but he also gets upwards of sixty pounds of honey a year. We have got to look into that.
All this envy had really worked up our appetites. More tacos!
On Mando’s advice we ventured over to Taqueria Alayna’s. This place is literally a hole in the wall between a convenience store and a laundry mat. I don’t think I ever would have noticed it, much less stopped here. Thanks Mando!
The nopales and egg was ok, but the barbacoa was truly memorable. Moist and beefy, with a super rich, collageny mouthfeel, the taco was only improved by a hearty dose of Alayna’s exceptional red and green salsas.
Stuffed, we headed out to continue our chicken pilgrimage. We stopped off at Nelray Boulevard to check out a truly recycled coop. The whole thing is housed in an old dog run and the owner even converted the previous dog’s sleeping barrel into a nesting box. Sweet.
In our honor,one of their glowing Ameraucanas decided to hold court.
We had noticed that several of the tour stops were actually in our neighborhood so we gathered our gear and headed north to Justin Lane.
To my surprise and pleasure, the owner was an old film friend of mine, Atom. He’s used the last few months of slow production to transform his backyard into a shining example of urban agriculture and husbandry.
Layin' time.
His henhouse was brilliant, featuring such pimp-my-coop touches as a spinning cd so that the chickens could chase the reflected light, fully plumbed water supplies, old logs for getting at bugs, and even a place to tether a melon for a rousing game of Peck That Swinging Melon.
The roof actually has two levels so that he can dry garlic and onions in the middle and dehydrate fruit for his 4-year-old son.
Atom also has an extensive converted-tire garden, a pulley suspended tomato patch, a clutch of rabbits, and another couple of coops for expanding his operation. Apparently he’s enjoyed himself so much that he wants to give up the movie biz entirely and raise rare and endangered breeds of fowl. Nice.
Atom holds one of his rare rockstar-coiffed Brabanters.
For our final stop we headed over to Traci and Mimi’s place on Far West. The first thing you notice when pulling up is that they’ve ripped up all of the grass in their little suburban front yard and built a series of raised beds packed with scores of heirloom vegetable and fruit varieties. These ladies are serious.
Their coop is around back, nestled between the outside wall of their kitchen and their privacy fence. The henhouse has a clear view of the dining room that Mimi says the chickens love because the girls get to watch them having dinner every evening.
Inside the coop.
They have a little wire fence that keeps the birds confined to about a third of the backyard. It’s a great illustration of the voraciousness of a chicken’s appetite. The no-bird zone looks like a sprawling tropical garden, while inside the enclosure every bit of vegetation has been worked over to a little brown nub. I had no idea.
Thanks again to all of the generous chicken raisers who opened their homes and henhouses. I know many of them were shocked at the turnout. One participant estimated that he had upwards of 800 visitors during the six-hour tour. Wow.
Well, there’s only going to be more next year. The word is out about Austin’s Funky Chicken Coops.
-L. Pants
