Roll-a-Coop – The Mobile Chicken Coop

In my search for technology relevant to agri-development, I stumbled upon this concept made reality, on the ever popular video sharing website, Youtube.com posted by greencorevolution.

http://www.youtube.com/user/greenecorevolution#p/u/10/5IdyrPUwdeM – See the original video here!

Just as the title indicates the construct is literally a mobile chicken coop. Due to its circular design it can be moved and rolled over moderately difficult terrain.It can also be turned on its side (vertically), conserving even more space and also  for easy long distance transport, if necessary.

If you look at the video you’ll see the construct has an inner ceiling and a perch for the comfort of the poultry. It is also very humane as the poultry is not cramped in cages as with many instances of broiler production.

The design is a continuing one and it does have some flaws. For instance, these chickens cannot scratch at bare soil for foraging, which is one of their most common activities. In addition, although the creators intended the project to be urban based, I see this as a suburban or rural subsistence tool; not exactly made for the city but perfect for less populated areas where a small to medium amount of land is available.

There is also the question of the culture/preferences of those persons for which this tool is intended. Will such a method of food production be easily adopted? What do you think, I’m looking forward to your comments!