At the suggestion of an employee, an SME boss had a chicken coop built in the garden of his company in Herrlisheim in the Bas-Rhin. Since then, the employees have been collecting fresh eggs every day and having their coffee break next to the chickens. Calmed and more relaxed.
For fun, we could call it “The egg box”. But it is quite serious, the director of the SME, Les Ateliers Mécaniques de la Moder, in Herrlisheim in the Bas-Rhin, accepted the idea of an employee to create a chicken coop.
“That’s not common ” recognizes with a smile, Vincent, team leader, lifting the lid of the nest box, “but we are fine. We come to see if there are eggs and we bake cakes.“
On an available green space adjoining the company, twelve red, white or even “Bleues de France” hens peck and cackle in complete serenity. Some walk around, others brood or lay eggs. Beside them, employees drink their coffee or smoke their cigarettes.
“It’s good, especially when you make precise pieces, it allows you to breathe a little and with the hens, it’s nice” says Jonathan, precision adjuster.
It must be said that their work requires great concentration: they manufacture parts for aeronautics, aviation and the automotive sector. So taking their break in this new environment pleases them a lot.
At the origin of this kingdom for gallinaceans, Renaud Huss, the brother of an employee. He built the chicken coop and maintains it every weekend with his children, who are as enthusiastic as he is. “Initially, we wanted to buy a chicken coop, but we couldn’t find what we wanted, so I made it with scrap materials and other materials that the company financed.”
They opted for automated opening and closing, distribution of seeds and water freely accessible to the hens, so that the employees have no additional constraints outside of their work. “There are even latches that will secure the hatch against the introduction of foxes, rats or any other pests that could wreak havoc in the coop. “
Roland Burger, the director of the Ateliers Mécaniques de la Moder, who financed the project to the tune of 600 euros, sees nothing but positive in it. “In the overall figure of a company, it represents almost nothing. And the return on investment for me is the smiles, people’s commitment, their pleasure in bringing peelings and collecting eggs. I think we are largely credited at this level.”
“In our team of seven employees, we already got along very well before” underlines Ophélie, the executive assistant, at the origin of the project, “but it’s true that the henhouse has brought us even closer and today, even customers ask us about the hens.”
The producer who supplied the birds was surprised. Until now, it was individuals who bought it mainly since confinement. Then one or the other retirement home set up a chicken coop for its residents, but on the business side, this is a first. An innovation that will certainly be emulated.