My Story

Queen of Coops began with a simple goal: create a better life for chickens.

What started as a small backyard flock quickly became an obsession with learning everything I could about poultry. I immersed myself in breeding, genetics, nutrition, housing, and flock management. Along the way I experienced plenty of successes, setbacks, and lessons learned. Every time I encountered a new challenge, I found myself asking the same question:

"There has to be a better way."

As I worked toward developing beautiful autosexing egg layers in a rainbow of colors, I also became increasingly focused on the environment in which those birds lived.

Living deep in the mountains of North Idaho, our chickens experience everything from hot summer afternoons to long, snowy winters with short days and subzero temperatures. Chickens are remarkably hardy in some ways, yet surprisingly vulnerable in others. They need protection from the elements without sacrificing fresh air, sunshine, dry footing, or the freedom to express their natural behaviors. And, of course... they produce an astonishing amount of manure!

I wanted a coop that solved all of those problems while still being beautiful enough to enhance a backyard instead of becoming an eyesore.

Unsatisfied with the designs available on the market, I started designing.

For several years I filled notebooks with sketches, built prototypes, tested new ideas, and refined countless details. Every challenge became another opportunity to ask:

"How can this work better?"

I wanted a coop that was affordable to build, simple to assemble, easy to clean, and thoughtfully engineered around the needs of both chickens and their keepers. It needed to stay dry, promote healthy airflow, simplify daily chores, integrate naturally into a backyard, and look beautiful doing it. I also wanted it to be practical enough to ship as a kit.

No small challenge.

The first coop I built with that vision was a large Gothic arch cedar structure that occupied nearly half my backyard. It incorporated self-composting roosts, interior growing beds for fresh greens, exterior raised garden beds, built-in feeders, and an innovative ventilation system. It was everything I had imagined...

...except practical.

It was expensive, labor intensive, and impossible to ship economically as a kit. As much as I loved it, I knew it wasn't the answer.

So I set the idea aside and focused on breeding.

But breeding required more coops, and I needed to build them quickly.

That's when I turned to the humble hoop coop.

Using cattle panels on a simple treated lumber frame, I built seven of them. They were inexpensive, surprisingly strong, and easy to construct. I immediately understood why they had become so popular.

But I also saw opportunities. The ventilation could be improved, cleaning could sure be easier, weather protection could be a lot better, and predator resistance could be smarter. 

In other words, the space could work harder if I could design it better, and so I set to work.

Over time, dozens of small improvements accumulated into something entirely new. One by one, the pieces came together. Two innovations proved so unique that I filed patents for them: the Supernova Roof System™, an air-gap ventilation system that helps keep the coop dry while exhausting heat, moisture, and stale air, and the Tilt-N-Slide™ Compo-Roost, a self-cleaning roost that allows manure to slide directly into the composting deep litter below.

I also designed a custom all-in-one cover with integrated clear PVC side panels that can be rolled up or down as conditions change. During the growing season, those same panels transform the attached raised garden beds into protected cold frames, allowing gardeners to start plants earlier in the spring and extend the harvest well into the fall.

Another innovation was the multi-purpose corrugated HDPE ground apron. This simple component keeps deep-litter bedding from spilling through the cattle panels, directs rainwater away from the coop instead of into the litter, forms the inside wall of the optional raised garden beds, and provides an added deterrent against digging predators.

Every feature was designed with the same philosophy: one component should solve multiple problems whenever possible. The result is a coop that stays cleaner, drier, healthier, and easier to maintain while providing superior weather protection, thoughtful predator deterrence, and a better environment for both chickens and the people who care for them.

The result is more than a coop.

It's a complete backyard chicken and garden system designed to be beautiful, practical, and genuinely enjoyable to use every single day.

Beyond the Coop

Although innovative coop systems have become the heart of Queen of Coops, my passion for poultry genetics remains just as strong.

I'm continuing to develop autosexing breeding lines that allow chicks to be sexed at hatch while producing a stunning palette of egg colors, including rich chocolates, blues, olives, teals, speckles, and heavy blooms. My goal has always been to combine beauty with productivity, hardiness, exceptional temperament, and practical value for backyard chicken keepers.

Our Flocks

Today, our breeding flocks live in the very systems that inspired this company.

Nestled in the Bitterroot Mountains, our chickens enjoy spacious, self-contained coops where they scratch through deep litter, graze fresh greens grown especially for them, dust bathe, forage, and express the natural behaviors healthy chickens were designed for.

We believe healthy, content birds produce the strongest genetics. By raising our flocks in real-world backyard and homestead conditions, we're selecting birds that are resilient, productive, and well suited for the families who will one day welcome them into their own backyards.

Looking Ahead

Queen of Coops is about more than selling chicken coops.

It's about rethinking what a backyard chicken system can be.

Through innovative designs, thoughtful breeding, educational resources, and a commitment to continual improvement, my mission remains the same as it was from the very beginning:

To help backyard chicken keepers create flocks that are healthier, happier, and more enjoyable than ever before.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

The best is still ahead.