Tour de Coop planned for Saturday

If you are considering raising chickens in your yard but have many questions about the process, several local experts on backyard chickens can help you during the third annual Tour de Coop organized by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension and Laramie Local Foods.

Cole Ehmke, founder of the event, decided to start the tour to give other local chicken enthusiasts an opportunity to share their experiences.

“We wanted to get a sense of what chicken coops in this town look like because they do have to be fairly well insulated and protected from predators,” Ehmke said. “It’s not often that you get an opportunity to see someone else’s chicken coop unless you know them and go to their house.”

The tour proved to be a big hit, Ehmke said. About 30 people attended the first tour and about 50 came to the second one. This year, the tour will include people from Longmont, Colo., who plan to attend the tour, Ehmke said.

A session on how to butcher a chicken in the last year’s tour also proved to be successful, but it won’t be included in the tour this year.

“Almost all people around here raise birds for the eggs and they keep the birds around for a number of years, so those birds are typically either raised specifically to raise eggs or they are dual purpose, which means they are big enough that they would have some meat as well.

“But you can raise birds that are specifically for meat, and last year we showed people how to (butcher) chickens. And 30 people stayed for that which I was impressed at,” Ehmke said.

The 2.6-mile bike tour will start at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at 1223 Sanders at Jeff and Nancy Beck’s house. From there, the tour will visit Andrea and John Summers’ house at 1110 Flint and Jolene and Jim Giese’s property at 716 Renshaw.

“I hope that people will take from the tour that raising chickens is fun. It’s not that difficult. It also adds just a little bit to our quality of life to have chickens in your backyard. You raise some of your own food. You are a little more self-sufficient,” Jeff Beck said.

Beck has had chickens in Laramie for three years and has eight hens in his coop now. He said he likes having chickens because they are “utilitarian” animals: They produce fresh eggs every day, they can be raised for meat, they eat scraps from the table and they also fertilize the garden.

Diane Saenz, food and nutrition educator at the UW Cooperative Extension Service, will give a presentation on egg nutrition and safety.

Bren Lieske, owner of Bren’s Hens, will discuss poultry health and wellness.