JD Vance embraces life as a chicken farmer after installing the 'Taj Mahal' of coops at Naval Observatory

By CHARLIE SPIERING, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 16:14, 19 June 2026 | Updated: 16:14, 19 June 2026 Vice President JD Vance is embracing his new life as a chicken farmer, after he installed a coop at his residence at the National Observatory. 'I have wanted chickens for a very long time,' he told Blaze TV podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey in an exclusive clip of a forthcoming interview provided to the Daily Mail. Vance admitted that the new farm building, which was constructed with a similar Queen Anne Victorian-style architecture of the Vice President's residency, was the 'Taj Mahal of chicken coops.' He said he was initially concerned about how engaged this three children Ewan, 8, Vivek, 6, and Mirabel, 4 would be with the new project, but they warmed quickly to their new agricultural endeavor. 'It turns out they love chickens. Like almost weirdly,' he joked. 'I'm worried they're going to be weird chicken people now because they obsessively want to go and hang out with the chickens and sit in the chicken coop. It stinks and there's poop everywhere.' Vance said the family got 15 baby chicks for the coup and that the they were looking forward to them growing up and laying eggs. 'They are really into them which is better than the alternative,' he said about the children's engagement with the project, adding it was a good way for them to have some connection with nature while living in Washington, DC. The Vances' new chicken coop at the Naval Observatory JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance hold baby chicks outside of their new chicken coop The Vances' new chicken coop at the Naval Observatory was constructed by Carolina Coops The coop was donated to the Vice President's residence with no cost to the taxpayer by Carolina Coops, a North Carolina company that builds custom coops for families. Vance's addition to the vice president's residence joins previous enhancements of the property including the Bidens who added a Family Heritage Garden and a tree swing, the Pences who added beehives.  Vice President Kamala Harris planted a pomegranate tree on the property to remember the victims of the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel  Vice President George HW Bush added a jogging track and Vice President Dan Quayle famously added a large swimming pool on the property.  The Quayle family had the pool installed when they lived at the Vice President's residence The Vice President's residence on the ground of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Vice President Kamala Harris plant a pomegranate tree at the Vice President's residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory The Vances are the first family to have young children living with them at the residence since Vice President Al Gore and his children came to Washington in 1993. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Vance joked that his kids ate 14 eggs a day, and expressed his concern about the rising price of eggs. Now they will raise their own eggs for their household.   The Vance family is also expecting an addition to their ranks, as the Vice President's wife Usha is expected to deliver their fourth child this summer, a baby boy due in late July. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.