'Coop of Dreams' is a fowl tour | Home & Garden

It's like the Street of Dreams, but a bit more fowl.

The Riverside Neighborhood Association in Everett is hosting its first-ever "Coop of Dreams Tour," which was modeled after the popular annual showcase of luxury homes. But instead of million-dollar mansions, the tour showcases are multi-thousand dollar chicken coops.

"I would say it's a general interest in basics, grassroots kind of stuff," said James Guerci who started building his high-end chicken coop a year ago. He calls it "Coop de Ville at the Orchid."
 
The walk-in chicken coop houses 11 hens and is complete with a sink, a chandelier and live video feed into his house. Overlooking the boxes that stores eggs made fresh daily is a picture of Col. Sanders  - a reminder of what may come if his chickens should decide to escape.

"I always say, 'finger-lickin', napkin -tickin', hometown, get-down, kickin' chicken,' but I wouldn't do that to these birds," said Guerci. "We wanted to make it a comfortable environment for them because they are going to be here a long time."

About half a mile away, Ritch Carbaugh is tending to his "girls," as he calls them. His calls his coop "the Red Roost Inn."  His chickens have hanging water and food dispensers, recessed heating lights and video cameras.

"It's a video baby monitor that has night vision and sound ability, so we can watch the girls at night," said Carbaugh. He and his wife organized the Coop of Dreams Tour as a way to educate people on the benefits of chickens as pets, companions and producers of a fresh morning meal.

On average, Carbaugh's four hens produce 1,000 eggs a year. He spent $3,000 building and landscaping his coop.

"You give them shelter, give them food and water and they give you eggs," said Carbaugh, who is passionate about protecting his girls and has no plans to put them in the fryer.

Carbaugh is the president of the Riverside Neighborhood Association. His group will be asking tour participants to make a $10 donation. The tours will take place Sat., July 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Maps are available at RiversideNeighborhood.org.