Urbavore's Dilemma: Lifestyles of the cooped and feathered -- a slideshow

Urbavore's Dilemma is an ongoing web series detailing city dwellers' commitment to urban homesteading. From May through September, Westword writer Joel Warner will get his hands dirty, covering everything from backyard chickens to front-lawn gardens, from greenhouses to co-ops and food-sharing. Check out the full series here.

Steve and Sheila's coop

The three Rhode Island Reds and three Barred Plymouth Rocks that reside in Steve and Sheila's Denver Heights backyard don't live like the chickens they are. Their lifestyle is more akin to royal peacocks.

For starters, their outdoor enclosure is sprawling - the Versailles gardens of chicken runs, if you will. But the real bling-bling is in their abode -- a twenty-year-old former playhouse decked out with feeders, heat lamps and even a temperature-controlled exhaust fan. The whole operation set the cluckers' owners back a thousand bucks. Not too shabby for a bunch of barnyard animals.

To learn more about this chateau of chicken coops and other coops around the metro area, check out this Urbavore's Dilemma slideshow highlighting the lifestyles of Denver's cooped and feathered.