2nd Annual Sewick’s Chicks Tour – photo courtesy of Mary Menniti

Sewick’s Chicks Tour, is an annual tour of different backyard chicken coops throughout the town of Sewickley, Pennsylvania.  The Second Annual Sewick’s Chicks tour recently took place on September 8th. The event was co-hosted by The Italian Garden Project and the Fern Hollow Nature Center.  

Photo courtesy of Mary Menniti

Mary Menniti, founder of the Italian Garden Project and instrumental organizer of this year’s coop tour, is a strong advocate for the local food movement.  Ms. Menniti owns several chickens of her own and has fond memories of her  grandfather in his garden with his vegetables and chickens.  “Raising chickens and gathering fresh eggs daily promotes a connection with nature and food,” she said.

Young Tour Goers – photo courtesy of Mary Menniti

Ms. Menniti reported that over 250 people came out to take the tour and learn a little more about keeping backyard chickens.  The tour consisted of twelve stops, into the backyards of ordinary Sewickley residents who openly welcomed the “chicken curious” tour-goers and happily answered question about their hens and coops.  This is twice the number of coops on display from last year’s tour.

Ms. Menniti was very pleased with the turnout for the event, “We had over 250 people attend.  It was nonstop action for all 4 hours for the 12 chicken keepers, but they all said they had a great time and all the tour-goers were very interested and enthused.”

To read more about the event, check out these newspaper articles HERE, HERE, and HERE.