Switching coasts from Brooklyn to Portland gave architects Mitchell Snyder and Shelley Martin a new set of unexpected clients: three young hens. Their move brought about an entirely different lifestyle--one that involved a house, a yard, and for Snyder, the chance to launch his own firm, Mitchell Snyder Architecture, after first acquainting himself to Portland, Oregon, as a designer at Scott Edwards Architecture. His first project on his own: a chicken coop for the couple's new feathery friends.
Photo by John Clark.Do:
- Research municipal ordinances to make sure it’s legal to raise chickens on your lot.
- Ask your neighbors if they’re okay with hearing the occasional cluck from your hens.
- Remember to share an egg or two with your neighbors if they agree.
- Decide which breed of chicken you’d like to have before designing or purchasing a coop. (Size and space requirements depend on a bird’s type.)
Don’t:
- Buy or design a coop without consulting a resource guide first. We recommend Reinventing the Chicken Coop, by Kevin McElroy and Matthew Wolpe and The Chicken Health Handbook, by Gail Damerow and Jeanne Smith, both from Storey Publishing.
- Get a rooster unless you’re miles away from neighbors.
