Mover Over, Gingerbread Houses — This Year, We're Building Gingerbread Chicken Coops

The world of cookie houses and gingerbread architecture seems to be growing and expanding with each holiday. Where Halloween had haunted manors and spooky graveyards, Thanksgiving will have gingerbread turkey trots. And Christmas, it seems, will have gingerbread chicken coops.

Tractor Supply Co., a retail store for farmers and ranchers, is selling a Gingerbread Chicken Coop Cookie Kit. During the early days of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders, many people turned to backyard chicken coops as a way to raise chickens and get fresh eggs when grocery stores were sold out and stretched thin on supplies. So it seems only fitting this new cookie creation would crop up this year.

The gingerbread chicken coop kit, which is available in TSC stores, includes everything you need to create a 3.5 inch-by-4.5 inch poultry perch. It even comes with cookie chickens for decorating your yard.

But if the coop isn't enough for the barnyard vibes of your holiday cookie dreams, Cabela's, an outdoor recreation retailer, is selling a gingerbread barn kit. Described as "E-Z Build," the kit is recommended for ages 3 and up, and the box says it's "perfect for little hands."

Buy it: Create a Treat E-Z Build Gingerbread Barn Kit; cabelas.com

The kit includes pre-baked cookie pieces for the barn and silo, pre-made icing with tip, and candies. Like the gingerbread chicken coop, the barn kit also includes animal cookies. A pig, lamb, rooster, and Holstein cow are pictured on the box cover.

If you've moved past the basic gingerbread house, you can use your creativity and cookie-decorating skills on an entirely different holiday diorama in 2020 with the chicken coop, barn, and silo. And if you want to be ultra-realistic, you can always make a few Cow Patty Cookies.