Backyard chickens can provide a local, healthy food source and bring a not-so-new dimension to communities and households seeking sustainability. With funding from the Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation, we are working with schools, gardeners, and local groups to build chicken coops in the Boulder community. The first coop is being built at Shawnee Gardens, where it will bring together elder residents with children from the adjacent Blossom Pre-school.
The project is being coordinated by Wynn Martens and Jeanne McDonald, with design leadership by Rob Pyatt, initially assisted by Kiumars Amiri, captain of AIAS Freeedom by Design, and now working with a team of Environmental Design undergraduate students. Urban Hens is working with Transition Boulder and is nearing completion of the design of a DIY kit for sale at the Farmer's Market. The project has attracted applicants from Boulder and Denver residents and organizations, and was published in the national magazine Dwell.
The first coop was built by students at Shawnee Gardens assisted living and Blossoms Preschool, designed to withstand Boulder’s high winds and snowstorms and to keep out predators, as well as to nurture intergenerational relationships and spread sustainable-living awareness. For more information, contact wynn.martens@urbanhens.org or visit www.urbanhens.com.
Click here for coverage in the Daily Camera from June 23, 2009.
Click here for coverage in the Daily Camera from October 27, 2009.
Click here to see Urban Hens photos.
Interviews on Chickens and Children