North Fork Hen House Tour

A
self-guided tour of North Fork hen houses is being planned for Saturday, June
15, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.  
The purpose of the tour is to raise awareness of backyard poultry, to
celebrate hometown hen houses, and to share enthusiasm for raising chickens, ducks, and poultry.

 



The
tour will be self-guided; visitors will be given a map with directions to each
of the locations and then they can pick and choose which places that they want
to visit.

Participants
will pick up their maps at Cornell University’s Long Island Horticultural
Research & Extension Center at 3059 Sound Ave., Riverhead, NY 11901.  There will be a $5 fee per vehicle to obtain
a map; this fee will help to pay for the printing of maps and advertising
costs.

 



In
Riverhead, some of the stops on the tour include a small family-run farm that
sells eggs and chickens all year, a supplier of baby chicks, a farm raising
chickens organically, and families who raise chickens for the fresh eggs.  In Southold you can visit a homeowner who has
a homemade hen house with a green roof, the Harbes Family Farm, and more
families who raise chickens for fun.

 

The
interest in raising backyard chickens has exploded in the past 5 years and the
east end of Long Island has its share of beautiful chickens.  This Hen House Tour is being organized to
celebrate hometown chickens and to demonstrate how rewarding it is as an
earth-friendly practice that supports living a sustainable lifestyle. 

 



If you
would like to participate on the tour, or if you have a hen house that you are
especially proud of and are willing to be one of the sites on the tour, please
call Dr. Bridgen at 631-727-3595 or email him at mpb27@cornell.edu.