Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance have had a custom Carolina Coop chicken enclosure installed at their official residence, 1 Observatory Circle in Washington, D.C., highlighting a broader American trend of keeping backyard chickens. Builder Matt DuBoise, who has also constructed coops for figures such as Mike Tyson, said his team worked through rain to complete the Victorian-style coop in time, designing it to match the historic house's distinctive turret. Usha Vance told Fox News Digital the family has "loved" having the coop, with their children caring for the chickens daily.

The coop, donated by Carolina Coops and valued at around $120,000, was installed in June and features a round hen house design that added to the construction challenge. DuBoise described the Vances as down-to-earth and genuinely engaged, noting the vice president asked detailed questions typical of newcomers to chicken-keeping, while the Vance children painted bricks with their favourite books as part of the coop's decoration, tying into Usha Vance's childhood literacy initiative. The article notes that backyard chicken-keeping has surged in popularity, with roughly 11 million US households keeping chickens in 2025, nearly double the 5.8 million recorded in 2018, according to the American Pet Products Association.