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Gates Mills businesswoman Kathy Vegh Hughes, right, started Cutest Coops, a custom chicken coop business, in 2019. Her sales exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic as families were stuck at home. Mrs. Hughes, 44, took her business experience and applied it to her love of animals. Her daughter, Olive, 8, is also learning the tricks of the trade. Mrs. Hughes and Olive are shown with a 6-by-6 foot chateau style coop, which starts at $8,300.

GATES MILLS — Kathy Vegh Hughes is the last person you would expect to keep chickens. Often sporting a dress and high heels, she does not wear a typical outfit one might expect to enter her chicken coop. She took her business experience, love of animals and sense of style to create Cutest Coops, a custom chicken coop business that exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mrs. Hughes and her husband, Anthony, moved to Gates Mills from the west side of Cleveland seven years ago. When their daughter, Olive, turned 3 in 2016, Mrs. Hughes bought three chickens named Snap, Crackle and Pop. Their first chicken coop was not a quality product, she said, and barely made it through the winter. It fell apart in a year, so Mrs. Hughes designed her own luxury, walk-in chicken coop and Amish workers built it. Her personal coop has garden boxes and a refrigerator inside, making it a gathering place for friends and family.

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