Architectural hen house

Frederik Roijé designed this stately and elegant "architectural hen house to breed and retreat." Breed Retreat (Thanks, Greg Long!)

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David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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tregeagle

My small brained chooks would lay their eggs in the dirt under it and roost on top of it. The rats would move in and have a ready supply of fresh eggs and chook scraps for their many baby ratlets. I could then train my children to milk the rats and we could open a dairy.

Rocquefort De La Vermin anyone?
- Ryanwoofs
  
  I just about squirted my brain out of my ears suppressing a lol next to my sleeping wife. Comment of the Year!
ceviche

This hen house suffers from the same design fault as others built by designers burdened with voyeuristic tendencies. The two factors that ruin the design are the nest window and the lack of roosts. Hens seek out safe and secluded locations for their egg laying. I’ve seen free ranging hens lay eggs under low shrubs that offered canopy cover from overhead predators. Birthing/laying is such a vulnerable moment, any reasonably intelligent female would make it a point to do it out of sight of any and all annoying dick-wads.

A more thoughtful design would offer roosts (height protection) leading up to nests boxes that have no direct access to the exterior (no visual exposure). A door or flap opening to each nest will allow egg collection.

In the end, I can imagine hens using this house for laying. Unfortunately, they would do it someplace other than where intended–like, someplace without the windows.

Ya know, you’d think these architect types would be more interdisciplinary and crack a book on chicken behavior before grabbing that drafting pencil. Shame, shame!
silkox

I’m sure Frederik RoijÃ© is a fine architect, but I’m equally sure he’s never seen chickens mate.
- Anonymous
  
  Oh so true. Nor has he to clean up for them. It’s more rustic than stately and elegant to my eye, but more importantly form’s not following function here. No headroom for perches neither.
Anonymous

Frank Lloyd Rooster?
- Anonymous
  
  Frank Lloyd Roo-Err-Roo-Err-Roooooo…
monday2sday

Hens schmens. But my cat would LOVE it.
godfathersoul

yep, not much thought to the rooster or the hen… but the cat, oh that cat would love it.
Anonymous

Chickens don’t mate in the hen house. This is a roost, where chickens lay eggs and brood over them. Presumably the mating is done in a larger enclosure, or like my chickens, outdoors, in between snacks.
schmod

This came up in my Google Reader, and I was expecting some sort of snarky comment beneath it.

Ah well. Any suggestions?
Anonymous

Yeah, this stately house would make for some expensive chickens. That lovely room with a view is presumably supposed to be the nest box, but chickens need a dark and quiet space to drop eggs or they just won’t do it. So not only are you getting an impractical hen house, but also eggless chickens. Nice.
Anonymous

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