Alameda Backyard Chicken Coop Bicycling Tour

If the thought of keeping backyard chickens intrigues, pack up the kids (and the bikes) and head to Alameda on Sunday for a one-of-a-kind field trip experience.

To show off a sampling of the city's various backyard chicken coop arrangements, the Alameda Backyard Chickens group hosts its second annual Backyard Chicken Coop Bicycling Tour, featuring seven coops with their tenders on hand to answer any questions.

The island boasts a hen population of about 165, residing in coops set up in the backyards of 35 homes, according to the group. Roosters, because of their penchant for crowing at the crack of dawn and other times of the day, are not allowed in most cities, including Alameda.

A flat city, Alameda is perfect for biking the 4 1/2-mile route - but it's not mandatory. A map will be given out at the first stop and balloons and signs will mark each house. Tour-goers will see breeds such as Rhode Island Reds, Leghorns and Plymouth Barred Rocks, which are black-and-white striped.

The goal of the tour is to show would-be urban chicken farmers the different coop options available "to fit your own situation," says Jacqueline Cooper, whose coop is a tour stop. Cooper keeps six chickens in her backyard coop including two Black Sumatra bantams - a smaller breed that resembles a crow and that can fly up to a mile. (Most egg-laying hens don't fly.) For this reason, the area outside her coop is enclosed.

One concern many families thinking about raising backyard chickens have is how they'll get along with kids. While chickens can and do "bond" with kids and adults, Cooper says, if the flock gets beyond two they tend to pay more attention to each other. There really is such a thing as a pecking order.

"They can be pets," she says, "but they're mostly chickens."

Ann Naffziger will show off her family's coop on the tour. At the next-to-last stop, she'll provide information on her upcoming class on how to start your own backyard brood.

A relative newcomer to the chicken game, Naffziger is constantly amazed at the power of chickens. She regularly lets hers out when she's gardening in the front of her house to roam because, among other things, it's a good way to get to know the neighbors. "Tons of people stop to bring them feed," she says.

1 p.m. Sun. Free. Pick up a map at the first stop on the tour: 448 Lincoln Ave., Alameda. Tour ends at 1342 Grove St. For more information, e-mail Jacqueline Cooper at hecatesfire@yahoo.com.

- Paul Kilduff, 96hours@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page G - 22 of the San Francisco Chronicle