Fancy Coops and Lovely Chickens, in Town

For all the hoopla surrounding passage of Traverse City’s backyard chicken ordinance back in 2010, there’s been barely a peep since the rules went into effect. In fact, the only noise surrounding the backyard hobby you’re likely to hear is a bit of clucking from busy hens cleaning up yards, fluffing and buffing of feathers, and nipping at grubs. It doesn’t cover up the sound of leaf blowers and traffic, but the random clucking certainly adds to the character of small-town living.

In Traverse City, a permit isn’t required to keep chickens, so there isn’t an exact count of the number of homes participating. Several dozen is a conservative estimate and that means there could be well over 100 urban chickens roaming backyards and turning out eggs in TC. Each home is allowed up to four chickens but no roosters.

As with their own homes, chicken owners take pride in their coops and sometimes it’s fun to simply walk the alleys looking to see how they’ve been integrated into the yards.

Most likely, the coops are well hidden and seem like a simple out-building. It’s only the distinctive cluck-cluck that might give a hint. Others, like the two profiled here, are easily viewed from the alley and stand out for their quality.

Here are two coops, their owners and their chickens.

COOP ONE: BEN MILLER

Ben and his wife, Andrea, have owned chickens since 2015 and now have three, plus a recent hatch of 12 chicks that will be given away once they are ready. They have a spacious coop that is complete with an urban loft for fine city living. The three hens are a Dark Brahma with no name, or The Boring Chicken; a Columbian Wyandotte named Scrappy Chicken; and a Brahma-Cochin mix, also with no name. Andrea co-owns a restaurant, so the chickens enjoy some fine scraps on a daily basis. Ben is rather handy, so has continued to add on and improve the coop since the beginning. In addition to the loft, he constructed a water dispenser that reduces mess and the need to refill. In general, from his experience, keeping chickens is pretty easy and straightforward, even when the owners leave town. “That’s the good thing about chickens: You fill up their food then leave, and they handle themselves,” said Ben. “They eat a lot, but not that much.”

COOP TWO: CHAD HALL

Chad and his partner, Josh, host The Ladies of Lincoln, or also known as Chad’s girlfriends. They are two 3-year-old Silver Laced Wyandottes named Big Mama and Angry Betty. They started with five knowing they’d lose a few, and as Chad says, “They all had various demises to them.” They lost one when a family of raccoons took interest.

Chad’s coop is also a luxurious city dwelling overbuilt for the two birds. A rule of thumb is to allow two square feet for each chicken and now his girls enjoy about 20 square feet inside the coop that Chad calls The Coop Mahal. “It’s always a work in progress. We knew things we wanted them to do, like run around the backyard, and so I really like the fact that we have the door that goes into the backyard,” he said. “They are fun to watch. They are just goofy. I love the fact that they are my little garden helpers. Making noise. Having a good time. You get used to their little idiosyncrasies and routines.”