Cobden’s Paul McPhee uses Landrover to build chook shed
One of the main criteria Cobden’s Paul McPhee wanted to satisfy with a chook house was he wanted something movable. Then inspiration struck.
MEET “The Chook’s Landy”.
When he was trying to figure out a way to build a new chook house, Cobden’s Paul McPhee had a moment of inspiration — why not convert an old Landrover?
Paul, who has lived on the 2ha property with wife Julie for more than 40 years, studied architecture at university and works as a building designer.
One of the main criteria Paul wanted to satisfy with a chook house was he wanted something movable.
“And the Landrover just popped into my mind,” he said.
“We’ve got three old ones there, but the station wagon was perfect.”
One of the features of Paul’s chook “shed” is that rainwater is channelled from the roof into a drainpipe that runs down into the chooks’ water container.
There are four nest boxes in the back, and there is a hole in the floor to allow the chooks to jump up and down from the car to the ground without having to leave their enclosure. A wood and wire skirt around the Landrover protects them from predators such as foxes.
And when the chooks need fresh grass, the car is simply towed to a new spot.
“I’m quite pleased with it, once the final result was achieved,” Paul said.
And he says someone has actually wanted to buy the two of his Landrovers, including the conversion, to restore but Paul declined because “it would be too hard to have to replace my chook house”.
- Do you have an interesting chook shed to share? Email online@theweeklytimes.com.au
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