Tour D' Coop- Coop # 2

Welcome to the Northern Vermont Tour D' Coop.
If you missed the visit to Coop #1 you may read the details HERE

   At stop # 2 there was a long convoy going to this coop location.  We stopped traffic on both sides of Rt 5 when the crowds of people crossed the road to get to this colorful coop.

This location has extensive flower gardens, goats, beef cattle, heritage breed chickens, unusual coop art work, guinea hens and baby chicks.  There are also several animal sheds and a cellar coop.

The flower gardens were in full bloom and we walked by hundreds of beautiful perennials and annuals.  There were also 500 varieties of day lilies on the property all waving their colors. It was difficult to follow the crowd down to the barn and not take a zillion photos of the flowers. Unfortunately the ones I did take came out blurred, except for this phlox
I want to go back and take a few more photos.

Our host at this farm is Shawn.

He is a principal at the local school, a farmer and a horticulturalist with an emerald thumb.

He bought this place from a man who was a race car driver.  The garage had an area underneath it that was a place they repaired engines.  Shawn turned it into a small chicken coop.
This cellar coop stays warm in the winter and nice and cool in the summer.

I had a difficult time taking photos of the outside of the coop because so many people were asking me questions.  Every time I went to snap a photo, some other distraction happened.

So there are more photos of the coop here and there.

The crowd loved the Pygmy goats.

Shawn rents this 200 year old barn across the field and raises Irish Dexter cattle. Of course they were all on the OTHER side of the barn, in the shade when we got there, and would not come over to our side.  This scenic farm is a landmark in this valley. The cows and the guinea hens are frequently photographed for the local newspaper.

You can see a bit of the coop behind Shawn.

This is their former rabbit hutch that is going to be changed over to a chick brooder soon.
Shawn's children have recently been using an incubator to hatch out chicks.

People were already discussing swapping for hens and chicks. 

A very attentive audience.
You can see the Door to coop under the garage.

The baby goat was carried and fawned over and this woman said she was taking it home.

All the kids got to pet goats, hold chicks, touch eggs and listen to roosters crow.
The rooster in residence was a Blue Copper Maran that I gave Shawn this spring. (it was suppose to be a "guaranteed" pullet when I got it...)

Here is a photo of them coming to pick up the young, vocal rooster.
Great things came out of that first meeting.

More baby goat cuteness.  With all the interest in the goats at this farm, I might have to organize a goat tour for next summer!

An assortment of colorful hens.  All free range.

Friendly goats and a confident goat boy.

Goat house on the left, turkey and meat bird house on the right.

A few of the guinea hens decided to make an appearance.  There are about 30 of them and they frequently cross the main road without looking both ways.....

I finally made my way under the garage into the coop.

Shawn's children did the art work.

A chicken tenement.

Stanchions for the two Irish Dexters they use to milk.

Good sturdy perches made from his own tree branches.

When the new chicks were brought out, the entire crowd shifted its location.

Every child held a chick.

Its difficult to get anyone's attention when there are baby goats and chicks around!

Meanwhile the goats and birds were doing some heavy snacking.
This goat looks like he is saying "hey, come look at me, put those chicks down and come over here!"

The guinea hens came into the barnyard for a few of us to see them up close.

I still do not have a decent photo of the entire "under the garage" coop, but here is yet another photo of the front door.

More goats showed up.

As the event coordinator I was unable to get anyone to start returning to their vehicles so we could get on the road to Coop # 3. We had a strict time frame, but all the cuteness of the chicks had really made it difficult to leave.
I continued to watch the flock, waiting for the crowd to get their fill of the chicks and flowers.

The goat house has climbing stairs to keep the goats busy.

The swings kept the youngest member on the tour happy and occupied.

The meat bird and turkey house is going to have a new paint job this week.

The kids said the hens prefer to go into the the goat shed and hide their eggs in there.

The gardens were beautiful and full of sweet smells.

Finally a few people started heading for their vehicles.

Everyone has to go through the boot wash first before leaving.

It was another chance to admire the plantings.

Its a long ride to the next location.

Stay tuned for Coop # 3.