Our first pet may well have been a goldfish creatively called Goldie who lasted all of three weeks, but given my firstborn’s love of animals it was always inevitable that our family would own a pet or two at some stage. The fish thing, well, let’s just say that fish turned out to be less hardy than anticipated. Who knew goldfish kept eating and eating until they died? Who does that?
Needless to say, keeping happy (living) pets is a matter of knowledge and daily care. We learned a lot from Goldie, mostly about having a feeding schedule that involved one person only. We also learned that keeping any kind of pet is a wonderful way to teach our children responsibility, empathy and kindness. Not to mention the wonderful sense of belonging a pet instantly brings them and a safe harbour in times of need.
These days, we are all about the chickens. I consider hens to be the perfect pet – they are easy to care for, fun to play with, warm to snuggle and so very generous with their eggs each day. We keep six chickens – Peeky and Benjamin are Max’s chicken (ironically, Max thinks Pecky might be a rooster); Daffy Duck and Chocolate are Lottie’s babies (although she is unreasonably scared of her babies); and Chirp and Gingerbread are Arabella’s third and fourth chicken so far (Peep unexpectedly keeled over in the dead of night last Summer and Sparkle went free-ranging and never came home – it’s been a tough year for Arabella!). We had the first three chickens until Easter this year when my parents-in-law thoughtfully (!) bought the kids each another chicken for Easter.
I remember when we first decided to get chickens I was rather petrified. It all seemed so foreign – we’d had dogs and cats and fish and mice as pets growing up, never chickens. Chickens seemed a bit ‘Farmer Brown’ serious and I was worried that my little urban clan wouldn’t have the skills to deal with them. We were daunted to say the least.
Fast forward a year and we are confident, happy chicken keepers. Our girls free-range most days, taking themselves neatly home to roost in the coop each night. We even managed to upgrade from our eBay purchased flimsy mdf hen house to a larger one built by my husband entirely from ancient stuff found under the house. That’s so farm!
Our chickens have been an educative pet for our children. It’s no surprise that so much of our social language is poultry based – hen-pecked, pecking order, chicken out, chickens come home to roost, count your chickens before they hatch, no Spring chicken… you can see why there are countless opportunities to observe chickens and throw a life-lesson into the mix. You’ve gotta try it!
Here’s a general idea of how to go about getting chickens in!
Do your homework
There is loads of information available online for would-be chicken keepers. I recommend a visit to these places:
City Girl Farming Blog – Kerrie is so friendly and knowledgable
HenCam – a great introduction to keeping a small flock in your backyard
Rent a Chook – let’s you trial being a chicken keeper to see if it’s for you.
The Bok Flock – Mrs Bok is a lovely blogger to get to know.
The right kind of chicken for you
From everyday kind of chooks to exotic specimens, there are apparently around 400 breeds available to keep in Australia. Popular backyard choices include:
ISA Browns (our Daffy Duck and Chirp are Isa Browns – that’s Daffy Duck up there at the top) (Isa Browns) -These cross-bred chickens are great little layers and are calm, good-natured chickens. Really easy to keep, they are the ‘starter’ chicken breed for many families.
Araucana – a South American breed which comes in lovely colours with extra fluffy, tufty bits. It lays distinctive blue eggs. Fun to keep and a good talking point!
Australorp – an Aussie original, the Australorp is a terrific layer, gentle with children and looks great in the garden strutting about with glossy black feathers. My sister has two Australorps and they are happy little souls.
Orpingtons – these are a docile, sweet breed with very fluffy feathers. They are amass with beautiful fluffy golden feathers. These are a very big chicken, so keep that in mind if you have nervous little kids. Even Max is a bit wary of our friend’s Orpis.
Leghorn – these are the birds most commonly used for commercial egg production, so you can bet you’ll get a good layer. They are flighty, nervous birds, though and make quite a racket. My sister has one inherited Leghorn and let’s just say she is not a fan.
Wynandotte – broody by nature (they make great mothers!) these birds are very pretty and very easy-care. Their gentle nature makes them great for a snuggle. Benjamin is a bantam Wynandotte and she is hard to keep off the eggs. I feel so sorry for her, patiently sitting on all of the day’s eggs, waiting for… nothing to happen. Unless Pecky turns out to be a rooster, of course!
Get the right size
Next you need to decide whether you would like to keep bantams or full-sized chickens. Bantams are smaller and lighter than standard chickens and lay smaller eggs. They typically lay less frequently as well, however they make great pets for small children and are very easy to care for. Silkies are a very popular breed of bantam chickens – they are sweet to look at and very docile for easy handling. While many bantams are known to be more flighty than their full-size counterparts, our bantam Benjamin (see those short little legs!) is easily our tamest chicken.
Where to get them
We got our flock from the fab New Leaf Nursery on the northern beaches in Sydney. If you’re a Sydneysider, it’s well worth a trip to this darling place. Chickens and roosters roam amongst the organic plants and there is a sweet petting zoo featuring chicks, rabbits, guinea pigs and even the odd lamb. Benjamin the chicken came ‘second hand’ from the petting zoo and we purchased our Isa Browns in the normal fashion. They were all 12 weeks old when we brought them home, so it was a few months before they started laying. Oh the excitement when we discovered that first egg!
Look how little Cappers and Maxi were when our very first chickens arrived!
There’s a place called ChookNet which is the “chickens, poultry and sustainable living classifieds” – they list loads of places in every state where you can find your flock.
There’s a place called ChookNet which is the “chickens, poultry and sustainable living classifieds” – they list loads of places in every state where you can find your flock.
What to feed them
You’ll also need to consider whether you have a local supply of good, preferably organic, chicken feed. You start with what’s called a ‘mash’, moving up to pellets once your hens are laying. You supplement this commercial feed with kitchen scraps, especially greens, and a source of calcium and grit. This is more important if your hens aren’t free-ranging. We also have a grain mix (see below) that we occasionally give to the girls as a treat. Chirp and Gingerbread are mad for oats, Chocolate loves pepitas, Pecky will road-runner anyone in her path to get to the sunflower seeds and Daffy Duck is a corn fan through and through. Benjamin eats anything. Check this page on the RSPCA website for more information.
We use a ‘hopper’ style feeder to keep a fresh supply of water going at all times. It basically refills a small trough as the chicken drinks. The same style of hopper is used for the commercial feed. This way, you can safely leave your chickens for a night (maybe two) and know that they have ample supplies of fresh food. If we go away we do ask a neighbour to check in on them, just to be sure that they have everything they need. Our neighbour appreciates the eggs as a thank you!
A safe, clean home
A chicken coop doesn’t need to be fancy, although the temptation is to build something cute and fancy for that ‘quaint farm’ look in the garden. By all means, go for it, but just know that all your brood really needs is somewhere safe to perch at night and room to stretch out in the day. We free-range our girls most days (beware the chicken poo – it gets everywhere! Eek!). On the days we don’t they have a chicken run of about 6 x 8 metres – so there’s lots of running around room.
You’ll also need to make sure your chooks have somewhere safe to perch at night (a 55mm diametre rod makes a good one, allow at least 1 metre for every 3 hens), at least 30 x 30cm of nesting room for egg laying comfort and at least 2 x 2 m of roaming around room per hen. They will also love having a dry, dusty spot for a daily dust bath to keep parasites at bay. You can find out more here.
A good daily routine
Each day you’ll need to check for eggs (the perfect kid job!), top up fresh water and ensure your chickens have enough food. You’ll may also have to let them out of their coop in the morning and shut them up in the evening once they’ve headed home to roost. At our place we have a secure chicken run, so the hens let themselves in and out of the coop each day and we let them out to free-range at least three times a week. If we free-range them, we just need to remember to lock the pen each night. This works well for us. I confess that LOML does 99.9% of the daily chicken work around here…
A good weekly routine
LOML does 100% of the weekly chicken work. He cleans out the stinky coop each week and lays down fresh straw or sawdust or a similar soft, absorbent material. We put a nice thick layer of newspaper at the bottom of the coop and a reasonable layer of lucerne over that. We put a thick layer (at least 8cm) of lucerne in each of the nesting boxes, ready for comfy egg laying.
You’ll also need to check your flock for parasites and general health. We also grow wormwood, marigolds, parsley and comfrey near the coop to help with the chickens’ general health. You can find out more about herbs for chickens here.
So there you have it – despite the farmer connotations, it’s all pretty easy to keep happy hens, right? I urge you to get in there and experience the awesomeness that is the lovely chicken pet. Aside from the four eggs a day we (and our friends and neighbours) are happy to receive, my kids adore their ‘little girls’ and they are part of our family. Good thing we don’t keep hens for meat, isn’t it?
This post has been updated since it originally appeared on Village Voices.
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I’ll be republishing some of the posts I have created over at Kidspot here on my blog. ‘Cause I like them and want to have them over here. Hope you don’t mind!
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