Ton Matton’s Chicken Cabinet Produces Fresh Eggs Right in Your Backyard

As the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/urban-farming/">urban farming</a> movement grows we've showcased a bumper crop of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/container-garden/">container gardens</a> that allow urbanites to plant their own veggies - and now designer <a href="http://www.mattonoffice.org/">Ton Matton</a> is taking the trend to the next level with his clever <a href="http://www.mattonoffice.org/MattonOffice/Chicken_Cabinet.html">Chicken Cabinet</a> coop. Ton took a standard cabinet and turned it into a one-stop shop for raising hens and producing fresh free-range eggs right in your backyard. Could cupboard-to-table be the next locavore trend?

Ton's <a href="http://www.mattonoffice.org/MattonOffice/Chicken_Cabinet.html">Chicken Cabinet</a> turns a familiar furnishing into a system dedicated to free range egg production.

The cupboard is built to EU-approved free range specs, and it provides enough space for three chickens to roost and lay eggs.

The compartmentalized unit has drawers for soil, straw, corn feed, and egg storage, as well as tiny curtains for the hens, since they prefer to lay eggs in the dark.

The <a href="http://www.mattonoffice.org/MattonOffice/Chicken_Cabinet.html">Chicken Cabinet</a> is part of Ton Matton's line of <a href="http://www.mattonoffice.org/MattonOffice/Free_Range_Furniture.html">Free Range Furniture</a>, which includes a water-filtering "Jungle Shower", the <a href="http://www.mattonoffice.org/MattonOffice/Compost_Toilet_2.0.html">Compost Toilet 2.0</a>, and a plant-growing <a href="http://www.mattonoffice.org/MattonOffice/Orchard_Chair.html">Orchard Chair</a>.

Ton is the founder of <a href="http://betterymagazine.com/stories/what-can-cities-learn-from-rural-areas/">Werkstatt Wendorf</a>, an abandoned school turned design laboratory that is focused on developing "productive urban living concepts." His works seek to show how tenants of country living and self-sufficiency can be applied to contemporary designs focused on production.

Ton certainly practices what he preaches - <a href="http://betterymagazine.com/stories/what-can-cities-learn-from-rural-areas/">Werkstatt Wendorf</a> is a model of self-sufficiency. Located in the German countryside, the living laboratory is powered by a massive 25 KW solar array that produces five times more electricity than needed.