Designer to the chickens

Blue Mountain Coops' Traditional coop. Photo by Jane Dawber.
Blue Mountain Coops' Traditional coop. Photo by Jane Dawber.
Former aerospace design engineer Rob Berger has turned his hand to chicken coops and is finding favour with foreigners in New Zealand.

The American now resident in Tapanui has been turning out a range of coops this year, as Blue Mountain Coops, after moving with his wife and children to West Otago to be closer to family.

There wasn't much going on in the area for someone with his skills so it was a matter of finding something to do and the property into which he moved had a large garage.

"We also wanted to keep chickens ourselves in town."

So Mr Berger put his problem-solving skills - skills honed on both sides of the Atlantic in such diverse areas as the US aerospace industry, and the petrochemical and security industries - to work on the question of a functional chicken coop.

"Some people would look at it as a step back," Mr Berger says of his move into chicken housing.

"But I like getting my hands dirty."

There are now four coops in his range, though the largest of these - for up to 20 hens - is so far just a blueprint.

Blue Mountain Coops' Traditional coop. Photo by Jane Dawber.
Blue Mountain Coops' Traditional coop. Photo by Jane Dawber.
The basic $350 "Traditional" model is designed to house two or three hens. It is a tractor design, so it can be moved around the garden, allowing the chickens to do your weeding, remove problem insects and fertilise the garden as they go.

"It just seemed like an all-around good idea," Mr Berger says.

"We built some raised beds that fit the coops exactly."

Without ever having weighed the coop, Mr Berger estimates it is probably about 75kg, so it can be moved by one person.

Among the innovations built into the Traditional coop is a water collection system that means the hens are essentially self-sufficent for liquids much of the time. The open base allows them to forage for themselves.

It is early days for the business, but some of the increased interest in keeping chickens that Mr Berger identified is beginning to turn into sales.

"It is interesting. So far most of the people who are buying seem to be foreigners."

Brits, Indians and Americans have been among their customers.

It could be that New Zealanders have a different idea about what a coop should look like, he says.


• More info
www.bluemountaincoops.com

 

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