Alexandria Coop (Courtesy of Dan Cohen)
When Dan Cohen鈥檚 wife asked him to build a chicken coop five years ago, she wanted one for convenience鈥檚 sake. She was sick of driving the five miles to her son鈥檚 house whenever she wanted fresh eggs; she had decided it was high time to get her own chickens.
It took a few days for Cohen to build the coop, but when he finished, his wife was pleased. She even told him that he should consider selling the wood structures for a bit of extra money. He laughed the idea off at first. Having crafted models for museums in the past, he didn鈥檛 want to take that route. 鈥淚 did a lot of fancy stuff where I wasn鈥檛 going to lower myself and build chicken coops,鈥 Cohen says.
After a few months, however, he finally gave in to his wife鈥檚 suggestion and put a picture of his coop on Craigslist. The next day, he had 20 emails asking about it.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I said 鈥榦h my goodness, there鈥檚 something here,鈥欌 he says.
His quickly escalated; Cohen built 100 chicken coops his first year which ballooned into 1,500 four and a half years later. He acquired 20 chickens of his own and hired 27 employees to keep up with the rush of orders from people who had decided that they wanted to raise chickens in their backyards.
His coops were featured on The Martha Stuart Show in 2010. Then, Williams Sonoma, the high end retailer of home furnishings and cookware, decided to get in on the action.
Cohen is now featured on their with his chicken coops, a sure sign that backyard chicken farming has officially become trendy. At a glance, Cohen鈥檚 coops look like miniature farm houses, featuring shingled roofs and wired windows. A few of them even have wheels to help move them around the yard. For a fee, Cohen鈥檚 team will place and assemble the wood and wire construction for you.
It鈥檚 not just Cohen who鈥檚 in on the chicken-raising trend. , an organization that works on connecting city dwellers with farmers, has also seen a rising interest in their . New York urbanites have flocked to their programs to learn about chicken care, how to build coops and what breeds of chickens are best to raise in certain climates.
At least 10 percent of attendees to Just Food chicken workshops are new to chicken keeping and attendance keeps growing, according to Greg Anderson, Just Food鈥檚 City Farms Program Manager.
The locavore movement and the demand for organic products are primarily responsible for driving the trend.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just great for people to be able to do this,鈥 Cohen says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to get away from the computer and the television and get out into the backyard and have a bit of control over your food.鈥