VEG Chook Systems
Backyard chickens are a win-win, and there is nothing like a few chickens in your yard to increase the amount of food you can grow. It’s not just the eggs and the wonderful company, but the free fertiliser and pest-control services that mean chickens boost your urban farm status up many levels. You can also offer some chooks a great life, far away from the cruel conditions of overcrowded barns or cages. See here if you need a hand to convince your family members that chooks are a goer for you.
Chook Houses
VEG offers both a small and a large chook house which include roosts, laying box and everything else any self-respecting chook house should have. There are many chook houses available on the market these days, but we developed our own because we’ve found nothing else made locally that is solid and built to last, uses ethical, sustainable and completely untreated materials, and most importantly, integrates seamlessly with other aspects of an edible garden (making it easy to manage and productively use the chickens to manure, pest control, de-weed and debug your garden). VEG Chook Houses are finished to a high standard in our Brunswick warehouse and are almost 100% made from locally and ethically sourced untreated Cypress macrocarpa timber. In addition, they have:
- A sturdy and long-lasting corrugated steel roof gives great protection from the elements and adds a certain aesthetic that we just think is great!
- Mesh roof gables ensure adequate airflow for Melbourne summers.
- Easy access nesting box for egg collection.
- Sturdy and strategically placed roosts to allow for maximum chicken liveability.
- Steel mesh floor allows manure to drop through keeping the house clean as well as allowing for additional ventilation.
- A step to hop up into the house one, which has proved also a favourite spot just to hang out.
- Solid galvanised gate-style hinges and latches.
You can see a short clip of one of our large chook houses and a standard strawyard installed here and another (custom-fit to a steep site) here.
Probably our favourite feature is having the chook manure drop straight through the chook house floor onto waiting straw, woodchips, or even a wheelbarrow for easy transport to your veggies and fruit trees. It just makes sense.
All of our chook houses and constructed in our Brunswick warehouse then transported to your site and installed by our chicken system team or alternatively, you can pick them up by appointment and install yourself.
VEG Small Chook House
Measuring 1150mm long by 900mm wide by 1600mm high, our small chook house sits 550mm above the ground on four posts and will comfortably house from 4 to 6 chooks depending on their size.
Price
$895 with free pick up from the VEG warehouse, or a small delivery fee. Contact us to order
VEG Large Chook House
Measuring 1450mm long by 950mm wide by 1650mm high, our large chook house sits 550mm above the ground on four posts and will comfortably house between 8 and 10 chooks.
Price
Fully built: $1100 with free pick up from the VEG warehouse or a small delivery fee. Contact us to order
We can customise the entrance location on both our small and large houses to suit a variety of orientations as well as fit a lockable door for standalone installs. Contact us to find out which door type and orientation is the best fit for your garden.
Chicken Straw Yards
100% fox-proof and custom-built to any specifications, our straw yards adjoin or include the house and we use solid cypress posts and beams and an innovative double door and hatch system to let you control the movement of the chooks without any chaos. You can read a bit about why straw yards are just such a great part of any chook system here. We see so many flimsy houses and pens that fall apart after a year or two that we’ve been moved to build something solid and functional that will last many, many decades.
Prices
Standard 1.85 x 3m (x 2m high) straw yard installed including barn-style double gate and sliding run access door for chooks: $2100. Contact us to order
Our team can custom fit our houses, straw yards and day runs to fit nearly any back yard. Get in touch to find out which chicken package best suits your needs.
Chicken-Powered Orchards and Day Runs
“Which will it be? Chooks or fruit trees? I mean, I’ve only got so much room out there…”
The answer, our friends, is to have both. Chooks and orchard systems are completely complimentary. Chooks suppress grass, provide pest control and fertilise your orchard, while the orchard provides your chooks with shelter and all the excess fruit you don’t eat. Contact us to find out how you can save by having your orchard and chooks installed as a single integrated system supplying eggs, fruit and immense satisfaction.
If you are not sure about the best way to organise your yard, and need design assistance in siting and organising your system – we can come and perform a design consultancy to make sure you get the most out of your system.
Not sure if you can keep chooks in Melbourne? Find out about council poultry regulations in Melbourne.
