Back in the Westport day, most folks raised chickens. They were a great source of eggs (and meat).
As we modernized, we bought our eggs and chicken at grocery stores. Then came supermarkets.
Our backyards grew grass, not dirt. Then came swing sets, patios and pools.
Now we’re back to backyard chickens.
More Westporters than you realize keep coops. To honor them — the people and the chickens — Wakeman Town Farm is sponsoring a tour of 15 backyard henhouses.
The fundraiser is set for Saturday, May 5.
This being Westport, the coops are not exactly Tyson Farms. According to WTF, participants can check out “the hautest henhouse, the Cadillac of chicken shacks, and the coop de ville.”
Not your father's -- or your grandfather's -- chicken coop. Hey, this is Westport.
Egg-regious puns aside, the event should be great. Starting at 10 a.m. at the farm (134 Cross Highway), participants pay just $10 for a self-guided tour map. They also get a snack bag and optional scavenger hunt.
The map offers a route for a wide range of tricked-out coops. At most stops, homeowners will be available to talk turkey chicken and show off their birds.
Then, back at WTF, there are ice cream sundaes made with milk from The Farmer’s Cow cows.
Proceeds support WTF educational programming. Perhaps one of those classes will answer the age-old question: “Which came first…”
(Admission to the May 5 event — $10 per person — includes a tour map, snack pack with granola and yogurt from local companies, and a sundae. RSVP to wakemantownfarm@gmail.com, or call 203-557-9195.)
Everybody knows the chicken came first.
This will be a fun event. We are excited to have our coop part of the tour. The girls have been clucking about it for weeks.
We will be joined by another neighboring coop in the Gorham Avenue Historic District (Nancy and Cameron Stewart), which is also the home to 2 neighborhood bee hives. Agriculture is big in the downtown Westport neighborhood!
Westport is still such a cool place! Love this!
If Westport can have back yard chickens, West Virginia can too! LOL
Hey Dan,
I have chickens and they are so much fun to have around. When I do yard work they follow me around hoping to get something that I rake up. My coop is an old shed with a scenic French Landscape mural painted by my Dutch cousin Jacqueline. Anyone is welcome to come and see. Give me a 10 minute warning so I can get the coffee going.
Flashbacks to the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy raises chickens…
Love having both the McCarthy’s and Stewart’s as great friends and neighbors!!! Fresh eggs are a real treat when they mysteriously appear at the back door every once and a while!
Having chickens is the best! The fresh eggs are great and the girl’s are very entertaining. I live in Westport and being a professional builder, I now build custom chicken coops. If interested, please email: customchickencoopman@gmail.com
Customcickencoopman, come on down to WTF this Saturday! There will be a workshop on Backyard Chicken Keeping and lots of folks who are interested in raising chickens but who have no idea how to build or buy a coop! Also, come on out on May 5 to the Chicken Coop Tour!
Oy! sorry about the bad spelling, customchickencoopman!
Join us this morning at 10am for a Chicken Keeping Workshop at Wakeman Town Farm! We would love to share with you all you need to know to start your own backyard flock. wakemantownfarm.org
My brother raised 12 roosters from incubating eggs to their unfortunate demise one year in the mid-70s on Hillspoint Road. I was taken away to Trumbull to go shopping so I would not witness the event (I was about 9 or 10) Our neighbors ate very well that evening.