Living Roof for Chook Shed

In early summer I took inspiration from a living roof (described to me by a Polish ecologist researching the building) that was put onto a large chicken farm in Switzerland (below).  This living roof was established to provide temperature and ventilation control for the hen unit and to integrate it within the rural landscape in which the farm is located. 

The green roof controls temperature and ventilation inside the building.  In summer the interior temperature is reduced by 7 degrees due to the cooling effect of evapotranspiration of the plants on the roof.  In winter the improved insulation helps to keep temperatures constant.

By all accounts the hens egg production has improved due to the quality of life and comfort of the hens being improved by the ventilation and temperature control. 

So I set about retro-fitting my small chook house with a living roof using NZ native plants.  It was an easy and quick job (no more than 1/2 day all up).  The drawing below shows how the retrofit was designed for the chook house.

The roof not only looks great, but anecdotally seems to have created a nicer environment inside the shed - hopefully happy and cool hens in summer will mean more eggs.  I wrote an article recently for Organic NZ magazine about living roofs profiling this project. 

Despite the long hot summer (and without any watering) the living roof has survived its first summer really well and the muehlenbeckia looks great hanging down over the edge.

A fellow living roof researcher has also designed a living roof for their chook shed - it's in the shade so has been able to utilise NZ native plants that prefer shady environments - also very nice shed which you look down on from the house so looks great with a greened aesthetic.