Tour de Coop Slide Show

Check out some photos of a few coops and gardens from this year's Tour de Coop! Click here.

Thanks Everyone!

Whew! Year Two of the Tour de Coop is history. Great time at the after party tonight at the State Street Zamzows, and more excellent coops throughout the day in Boise.

HUGE thanks to Zamzows for all the support: help with event promotion, gift bags for tour hosts, sanitation kits  for all the hosts to reduce potential disease transmission, and of course, their very fine location for tonight's party.

Thanks to Sustainable Community Connections (Kelsey!) and Treasure Valley Food Coalition for making the registration work and for all the time spent fielding questions this weekend.

Thanks also to Archie's Place for showing up with food and drink.

Ginormous kudos to all our volunteers: Sallie, Gretchen, Kelsey, Martha, Elizabeth, Alison, and their families who helped with creative ideas, planning and implementation.

And of course, thank you to al the tour hosts for spending their days in the spirit of sharing information and their experience about backyard chickens.

Cluck, cluck!

Eagle Tour Swell; Boise To Feature Better Map!

Wow! Some cluckaliscious coops on today's Eagle Tour (with two particularly awesome Boise stops thrown in for good measure). Many of us played tag throughout the day, lingering to take notes on interesting designs, breeds and to chat. Lots of beautiful birds and friendly people.

If we heard one common theme from the hosts, it was how nice chickeney folks are. Lots of hosts and visitors were glad that someone bothered to organize the event, and some even offered to help out next year (eggsellent!). What many didn't know is that this event is organized by a handful of volunteers (with families, day jobs, and even a wedding/honeymoon right before the event!) who have had to figure out how to make it work, and have paid for expenses out of our own pockets, hoping that we'll break even. Thanks to those of you participating, buying shirts, maps and such like, we will likely have funds to contribute to www.idahoscc.org. We are grateful.

Click for a slideshow of coops from the Saturday Tour!

Map stuff. A couple of folks had trouble with the map Saturday, but the vast majority (>98%) of those registered seemed to navigate just fine. We'll tinker with the process next year to create a more foolproof and swanky system. The current Google Map instructions include a link to a 'new and improved' document with addresses next to the map pointers for the Boise Tour.

We're Halfway There!

Online registration ends soon for the Boise Tour (see link at left); everyone registered will receive an email with a link to the online tour *map. If you are a late bird or spaced out your online registration, we hope you can join us for the After Party (see below) and next year's astonishingly sweeter tour.

If you have ordered shirts or posters online, they will be available at the After Party at the State Street Zamzows between 4pm and 6pm tomorrow (Sunday). If you placed your shirt order after September 28 and we don't have extra shirts from our current inventory, you may pick them up late next week (we will place our final shirt order Monday).

Check this site and our FB page for late-breaking news through tomorrow. On-line map sales have been brisk, and all hosts experienced steady traffic and delightful conversation.

*Note. Internet Explorer has an issue displaying the graphic pointers on Google Maps; we recommend using an alternate browser such as Firefox, Chrome, or Safari for best results. We have also provided a .pdf version of the instructions and map, which includes coop addresses and pointers to help plan your tour.

Tour de Coop Etiquette

Greetings, Chicken Lovers!

As we approach the fabulous Tour de Coop, here are a few reminders for those of you visiting local coops during the tour (remember to register by 5pm this Friday):

1. Dogs and chickens don’t mix; please leave fido at home with a nice chew toy.
2. Be respectful of the tour host’s yard, garden and property, and make sure everyone in your party does the same.
3. We do not expect or encourage tour hosts to open their homes to visitors, so plan your party’s bathroom breaks accordingly and strategically!
4. Ask questions and take pictures.
5. Make sure to attend the after party Sunday from 4-6pm at the at the Zamzows location on State Street. It will be a great wrap up to the weekend, and we'll have tee shirts for sale along with food by Archie's Place and beverages.
6. Please use the shallow foot baths provided to avoid spreading anything unwanted from coop to coop. Wear appropriate shoes and step in the foot bath on entering and leaving yards.
7. Have fun!

Thanks for helping make this a positive experience for everyone.

New and Old TDC shirts available!

We have some great new shirts designed by Ward Hooper available for the 2011 Tour de Coop. They are $20 each; We do have a limited supply of the 'Chicken Head - Backyard Idahohens' shirts left from last year at clearance prices ($15). If you didn't pre-purchase a shirt online, come to the after party at the  Zamzows location on State Street this Sunday from 4-6pm. Shirts are 100% cotton and the best way to get your chicken on.

2011 and 2010 Limited-Edition TDC Shirts.

After Party at Zamzows October 2nd!

Plans for the Tour de Coop After Party are shaping up nicely. The party will run from 4-6 on Sunday, October 2 and is hosted at the beautiful Zamzows location on State Street. We've confirmed "Think Boise First" member Archie's Place and are hoping for some soothing and relaxing local beverage options. Stay tuned...

All our Tour hosts are confirmed!

If you're hosting this year, please click here and here for some VERY IMPORTANT information to read and understand.

2011 Tour Registration is Up and Running!

Thanks to Kelsey and our partners at Sustainable Community Connections, the 2011 Tour de Coop registration is now open!

Register here!

Pre-registration is required, and you may also pre-order the amazing 2011 t-shirt by Idaho artist Ward Hooper. Shirts will be available prior to the event, and will be high-quality, 100% cotton. We hear they were even made by elves!

Tour de Coop 2011 - Get your Chicken on!

Greetings, fellow chickenistas!

We're gearing up for this year's expanded Tour de Coop, and excited to welcome the folks from Eagle, ID to the Tour. For 2011, Boise's own Ward Hooper designed our T-Shirt (below) and poster art, and we are all clucking with glee over his creation.

2011 Limited Edition T-Shirts available

The plan is to hold two full days of coop tours, with the first day in Eagle on Saturday, October 1. Day two will feature Boise coops on Sunday, October 2nd. We are also planning a swell after party at the State Street Zamzows from 4-6 on Sunday, October 2.

Stay tuned to this site, or check out our Facebook page to learn more about this year's tour and the folks involved.

Tour Hosts Needed in Eagle!
In addition to seeking artful, practical and cozy coops to show off during the tour, we are also looking for a couple of volunteers from Boise and Eagle to make this year's tour as successful as last year's.

If you're interested in hosting, please click here for some VERY IMPORTANT information to read and understand before committing to host.

Eagle. Send an email to alison@eaglechickens.com with 'Tour de Coop' in the subject line to learn more.

Note. We now have all our hosts for the Boise Tour!

Thanks to Zamzows and the Treasure Valley Food Coalition/Sustainable Community Connections, our in-kind sponsors of Tour de Coop!

 

You Say You Wanna (Chicken) Revolution?

Local Chickenista Gretchen Anderson just hatched an oeuvre de force entitled "The Backyard Chicken Fight: How Keeping Chickens in Your Yard is Ruffling Feathers Across the Nation."



Congratulations, Gretchen!

And to everyone else, for goodness sake, buy the book!

2011 Tour de Coop Plans Underway!

Tour de Coop mavens met this week to begin planning for the 2011 Tour de Coop. This year we have strong interest from chickenistas in Eagle interested in participating and co-hosting an expanded coop tour. We are exploring options and what such a tour might look like. More details to follow. We ask that anyone with information on potential event conflicts to let us know ASAP. You can post messages here or on the Boise Tour de Coop FaceBook page.

Thanks!