Permaculture Chicken Mansion

On my recent tour of the Permaculture Visions property at Mount Kembla, I saw lots of great ideas for gardening and property design. This is part of a series to share them.

This post is all about the fantastic permaculture chicken coop, dubbed the “chicken mansion”, that April showed us.

It’s a little hard to see inside the coop, but the floor is a raised metal grid with gaps of about 12mm (1/2 inch). It’s strong enough for a person to walk on, and allows manure, dust and broken down pieces of nesting material to fall through to the ground below. The mesh prevents rats from getting through, and the material that falls through simply rolls down the slope below the coop. On the left, you can just see the water barrel that collects rainwater from the roof gutters and provides drinking water for the chickens.

From the side, you can see how the whole coop is raised off the ground. Good use is made of the natural slope of the land, so you can walk in at ground level from the top side. The nesting box lids lift to allow easy access for egg collection from the outside, and the mesh side ensures good ventilation.

Looking at the chicken coop (on the left) from the rear, you can see the fox-proof ladder that allows the chickens access. The ladder is wide, and has wide spacing between rungs, so that foxes will not be able to climb it. By giving the chickens a ladder, you don’t need to lock them in each night and let them out each morning.

You can read more details about this chicken coop on the Permaculture Visions chicken mansion page.

What are the best permaculture chicken coop features you’ve seen? What would your “dream chicken coop” include?