Background:
At Gaia Ashram we have had Chickens & Ducks since around 2019. They have become an important part of our lives here at the community. They help to control pest, weeds, helps us in making compost and provide us with eggs, manure, companionship and they are an important educational element for our permaculture farm.
In June 2025, we unfortunately lost approximately 20 chickens and 15 ducks due to two separate dog attacks. A pack of dogs managed to enter the poultry area and began to kill them. This incident highlighted the urgent need to enhance the safety of our chicken and duck enclosure.
The Problem and Solution!
The dogs where able to push through the fencing. we used in part chickens wire fencing. This fencing was older and had rusted and the dogs were be able to push through this to get to the chicken and dogs. Another problem is that the current chicken coop which used to be a volunteer bamboo house is on the verge of collapsing because of termites have been eating the structure.
The Solution:
We already have had the idea of building a new chicken & ducks enclosure for a few years. We never got around to it as there were always other projects demanding our focus. But now after losing many of our chickens & ducks it has moved up to the top of our prioirity list! We need a new enclosure that is strongers and will last a long time and we will need to build them their new chicken & duck coop.
The Plan:
long version video with more detailed explanation of plan
Fenching & Gates
- We want to give the chickens & Ducks a lot of roaming space. The total fencing line will be around 240 meters. This fenceline is marked red on the map.
- We will create a seperate roaming area for chickens and ducks. That can also be mixed at times if we chose to do so.
- We will use 2.5 m concrete post and put them in the ground for about 50cm.
- We will use chainlink fence as this is durable.
- We intend to attach an additional 1 or 2 electric fence lines to the concrete poles to create an added layer of protection. This will be energized by an energizer that will be installed in the coop.
- We will install around 5 metal farm gates to be able to flow through. We will have two bigger ones to allow for tractor access and 3 smaller ones. These are marked in blue on the map.
Chicken & Duck Coop and Feed Storage Shed
We will build the new chicken & duck coop in the existing structure that used to be our products and distillations shed. Marked in yellow on the map. We already have a structure with a roof there which will safe us time and resources to reuse this.
- The structure is around 6 m x 9 m. This is a lot of space.
- We will seperate ducks from chickens in this space.
- We will raise the soil in the sheds to prevent it from flooding.
- We will have a space for the incubator to hatch small chickens and also a space for the baby chickens and ducks.
- A space for laying eggs.
- Integrated water tank with harvesting rainwater from roof. Self watering pipes and connections.
- Storage for materials needed.
- We need to build walls and have gates.
- We will attach a storage shed of around 3 mx 5 m to the existing structure (see map in white). In this we will have have 4 feedbins made out of cement rings w1m x h1.5 m. We will also place our shredder here that we use to shred greens to mix into their feed. We are also working on growing more grains for the chickens recently growing corn.
- We will also be able to store dry straw for bedding for the ducks and chickens.
Compost Area and Duck Pond:
Using chickens to make compost has been an essential part of Gaia Ashram nutrient cycling. The chicken composting method is providing us with a constant supply of compost for our food production both in the field of dreams as in the mandala garden. In the new area we will improve on this.
- We will dedicate a seperate larger area for the chicken compost run. See the map the orange area.
- We create 7 areas where we pile up organic matter with manures and then we rotate the chickens through these areas to turn, scratch, manure and eat bugs & seeds from the greens.
- We will create a tractor entrance that can get near to this area to bring in materials if needed.
- There is also a huge pond (see map) that never has been of much use to Gaia Ashram. This pond will be dedicated to the ducks. There are already a lot of water plants in there and we already made the beginning of an access ramp into the pond. At end of dry season the pond does get low but we think that over time the duck manure will help seal the pond. There is also the posibillity in dry season to dig part of the pond a little deeper to keep water access for the ducks.
New Duck Pond
Timeline & Budget
Timeline:
December till end of February.
Comments:
As we have a lot of projects going at any times at Gaia and many courses we will take a wide margin of time to finish it.
Budget:
Land Preparation:
4000 thb
Building Shed and Coop:
6000 thb
Fenceline and Gates:
30000 THB
Total:
40000 THB
1235 USD
1075 Euro
8827 Chinese Yuan
Comments:
The building of coop and shed will be relatively cheap as already have most of the structure and we will try to use materials that are at Gaia as much possible.
The fenceline is more expensive as it is a large area and we want to put proper cement post and chainlink fence.
Support & Donate to Gaia's new Chicken & Duck home
WISE, Revolut, & Local banks:
Bank Account Name: Gaia Regeneration Co,Ltd.
Bank Account number : 157 3552 039
Bank Name: Kasikorn Bank
SWIFT CODE: KASITHBK
Bank address:
22/4-5 ม.15 Wutthathikhun Rd, Phen District, Udon Thani 41150
Gaia Ashram address:
149 M1. Ban That, Phen, Udon Thani, Thailand 41150
Phone number 0066-805791006
If the above method do not work for you please email us at:
gaiaschoolasia@gmail.com
