JD Vance’s new chicken coop puts spotlight on growing American backyard trend that family has ‘loved’
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.
- Vances got a custom $120,000 chicken coop at their DC residence
- Builder Matt DuBoise designed it around the house's historic turret
- US backyard chicken-keeping nearly doubled since 2018, to 11 million households
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Chicken keeping involves raising hens in a home garden for eggs and as pets. In the United States, more households have taken it up in recent years: an industry association estimated that about 11 million households kept chickens in 2025, compared with 5.8 million in 2018.
JD Vance is the US vice president, and Usha Vance is the second lady, the title commonly used for the vice president’s wife. Their official residence is 1 Observatory Circle in Washington, DC, where their children help care for the family’s chickens.
Backyard flocks can bring fresh eggs and give families a hands-on way to care for animals, but keeping chickens also requires suitable housing and daily attention. The Vances’ coop was donated by Carolina Coops, a company that builds chicken enclosures, and its design was made to fit the residence’s distinctive architecture.