Gardening with Chooks

Fresh, free range eggs without question these are

one of lifes little pleasures. An even greater pleasure
lies in being able to scuttle out your backdoor in the
morning and collect some eggs from your very own
hens. I mean, you know the eggs are free-range, the
hens are happy, there are no weird eggy additives
(Omega 3 in eggs whats that all about?) and they
look and taste amazing in comparison to most store
bought cackleberries.
Now, before you tune out and declare that chooks are only for country folk, think again. A couple of
hens can be kept quite happily in a standard backyard, and the joy they will bring you and your
family (especially the kids) is amazing, not to mention the (hopefully) plentiful supply of fresh eggs. I
reckon that every good, sustainable garden should have a couple of chooks, and Im not alone in this
belief. Practioners of permaculture and oracles of organics have raved about the benefits of chooks
in the patch for eons, so there has to be something in it. So, without further (cock-a-doodle) ado,
lets enter the wonderful world of backyard chooks!
Eggscellent Neighbourhood Relations
Alright, first things first, where are you going to put your feathered friends? You need to bear a few
things in mind. You need to research your local council regulations regarding the keeping of
cluckers. Loads of councils will specify whether or not roosters are allowed, how far from the
property boundary the chook house needs to be and the like, so avoid neighbourhood disputes and
run-ins with the municipality, and check this out first. Probably not a bad idea to have a yarn to your
neighbours (especially in suburbia) and let them know that you are thinking of getting chooks.
Assure them that, despite what folks may think, chooks dont smell and they are pretty quiet
roosters excepted of course! Of course, bribery through supply of fresh eggs may just be the thing to
win them over!
Cluckingham Palace A Humble Home for Hardworking
Hens
Chooks are not real demanding, but there are a couple of accommodation necessities that need to be
considered and constructed prior to the arrival of your egg laying machines! Firstly, chooks have to
have a house with a nice comfy perch. This gives them somewhere to roost at night, a place to
shelter, and a general hang out spot if it all gets a bit hectic. Ideally, the chook house should allow
about .5m of floor space per hen, as well as 23cm of perch for each bird. While you are designing
your Cluckingham Palace, remember to incorporate some nestboxes, at a rate of one box for every
three chooks. This will minimize congestion come egg laying time, and gives the hens the space
they need to be cozy and secure while doing their thing! Oh, and a hot tip here is to locate the chook
house away from bedroom windows (yours and your neighbours). Chooks (and especially roosters)
are really early risers, and while the sound of clucking and chortling chooks may seem idyllic, it may
wear thin over time.
Your chook house will need to be attached to a run, an area where your new arrivals can scratch,
feed, roam, and generally have a good time. This run needs to be big enough to accommodate your
chooks, but not so big that you are wasting valuable patch space. A decent rule of thumb is to give
the chooks about 1m
2
space each, but this can be smaller if you plan to let them wander about in the
garden from time to time (more on that later). The run should have a good bit of dirt (cluckers LOVE
a dirt bath), and a permanently shaded area (you could use an existing tree, a hollow log cut in half
and placed upside down, or rig up an artificial shade).
Now, for all you home handy people, there are loads of resources available on how to build your own
chook house and chook run. I have seen some incredible structures, from Cluckingham Palaces to
Mudbrick Mansions, and, quite simply, chook house design should be limited only by your
imagination (and your space, time, and wallet of course!). For those of us less handy on the
powertools, or lacking in time, there are some great pre-built houses and runs available fairly
readily.
Stayin Alive
A dead set necessity of all chook houses and runs is security. Chickens are a meal waiting to happen
for a number of hungry critters, including foxes, dogs and cats. The secret to a predator free
existence is diligence, and a whole lot of chook wire. Make sure your wire is buried at least 10
15cm under the ground, and flared outwards. This stops the cunning little carnivores from gaining
access to your clueless cluckers. Now, dependant on where you live will determine whether or not
you need to put a nice wire roof on the run. In rural areas, especially those with foxes and birds of
prey, a roof is pretty much a necessity. For those in suburbia, its your choice; your chickens may not
feel any differently having a roof or not, but you may be able to rest a little easier knowing your
feathery friends are safe.
Which Nest Is Best?
Now, if youre wanting eggs, you need to give your hens somewhere to lay and thats where nesting
boxes come in. A couple of rules of thumb here with nesting boxes: they are best attached to the
chook house, they should be between 75cm 100cm off the ground, and, for easy egg collection,
should be able to be accessed from the outside of the chook house. Nesting boxes dont have to be
elaborate, and each chook doesnt need its own. Generally speaking, one nest box between three to
four chooks is perfect. Boxes should be around 40cm x 40cm, although I have seen old mower
catchers used to great effect! Whack some lovely soft straw in the bases of your boxes, a ramp or
similar so they can get in, and cross your fingers. If your cluckers are reluctant to hang out in the
nestboxes, try popping in some fake eggs for a while theyll soon work out what the idea is!
Check Out The Chicken!
So now we get to the fun part choosing your chooks! Assuming you are wanting to purchase hens
for egg production, top notch garden fertiliser and delightful pets, than purchasing pullets are the
best way to go. Technically, pullets can be anywhere from one day old to one year old (after a year
they are known as hens), but I reckon the best way to buy them is at point-of-lay. Point of lay
pullets are generally between 18-20 weeks old, and should start popping out the cackleberries fairly
quickly, pretty much providing you with instant omelets! The pullet year for hens is their most
productive, and you may find yourself inundated with eggs for the duration. That said, hens will
continue to lay for about three to four years, but their production will decline over this time.
There are a couple of other options when it comes to pickin chickens, and these can be a whole load
of fun, especially if you have kids (or kids at heart!). Buying fertilised eggs, and hatching them in an
incubator is incredibly rewarding, and not as tricky as you may think. There are a number of places
that now rent out incubators, and can provide you with three guaranteed fertilised eggs (check out
the links at the base of the page). If you do go the egg option, remember that your chicks need to be
housed in a nice, warm brooder box for about six weeks, at which time they can be introduced to
the rest of the hens and their humble home. Again, you can rent these heated houses from a number
eggcellent enterprises.
Whichever way you go when selecting your new family members, there are a couple of things to look
out for. If buying chicks or pullets, check out their general appearance. Look for bright, shiny eyes,
glossy feathers, parasite free tail and bottom, and all-round happiness. They should be alert (but not
alarmed), active and interested, and look well like chickens are supposed to look. Always buy
sexed chickens, so you can be assured you are getting an egg layer, and not a rowdy rooster.
Which Breed is Best?
Well, this all depends on whether you want a backyard breed for baskets of eggs, a cute and cuddly
clucker, or a stunner to show off. The hot hen tip here would be to ask you local poultry breeder, hen
fancier, and some of your neighbours and see what they recommend. Personally, I love the
productivity and placid natures of Isabrowns and Light Sussex hens, but am also partial to a Pekin
Bantam, Chinese Silkie and Frizzle Pekin Bantam because they are just so darned adorable!
One is the loneliest number
Chooks are, by nature, incredibly social, and it is important to remember this when planning and
purchasing. One chook on its lonesome will be very unhappy, slightly distressed and will probably
go off the lay. Bare minimum number of hens is two, but, as a general rule of thumb, go for three
chickens for four people, and, if you feel so inclined, one extra chook between every two people. Oh,
and before you go stocking your patch with poultry, remember to check out your local council
regulations. A number of councils have a cap on the number of birds you can keep in the suburban
backyard (generally about 8 10), and also have rules restricting roosters.
There is a bit of an old wives tale that no more than twelve hens can be kept in the same run at once,
and, to be perfectly honest, its not really true. Provided chooks have the appropriate space in the
run and hen house, there shouldnt be too many issues. The pecking order does indeed exist though,
and new girls should be introduced to the others two at a time to avoid some fairly unpleasant
behavior.
Hug a Hen!
Who would have thought that hens love a hug? Raising chicks is fantastic, for both your family and
the cluckers, as gentle handling, pats, cuddles and love will have your chooks literally eating out of
your hand. That said, even hens bought as pullets can learn to love your love, just by talking to them,
socialising with them and, eventually, holding them. Kids are especially good at children/chicken
relations, and will bond pretty quickly with the collection of cluckers, unless they are prone to
terrorising animals, in which case they should probably be directed away from the hen house. If
chooks become stressed, either from loud noises, rough handling (that includes the pulling of tails),
barking dogs and the like they can go off the lay, so be mindful of this.
Your Girls in the Garden
Okay, so they make top pets, and crank out the eggs, but what impact do chooks have on the
garden? Well, that depends on what you allow them to do in the patch. Left to free-range (i.e.:
chooks left to their own devices through the garden), your hens can wreak a bit of havoc, especially
when there are young seedlings in the patch. Think scrub turkey but smaller! Chooks love nothing
more than a big ole scratch in some fresh mulch while they hunt for worms, and show little
disregard for your precious plants. That said, they are fantastic at the end of a growing season in the
vegie patch, cos they will turn the whole lot over, while pulling out the remains and fertilising up a
storm.
More established vegie patches can seriously benefit from poultry patrol, particularly if you are
having insect issues and weed worries, and, unless the plants are super sensitive (think lettuce and
spinach) the chooks will give them a miss. Sensitive plants can be fenced off with some temporary
fencing, to prevent attack from roaming hens. As chooks are fairly reluctant to leave the ground, a
fence about 600mm high will keep them happily contained. If they do happen to take off, they wont
go too far, as they miss their mates too much. Check the nearest fruit tree!
Its also good to remember that chooks love a dust bath, and can rapidly convert a sparsely planted
area into a dirt ditch. Your chickens need to have access to a dust bath to prevent lice and mites,
but, if you are reluctant to allow them to desecrate a section of your garden, give them a bowl or dirt
and sand or similar in their run, and theyll be happy as well hens in dust!
The Poo!
Probably one of the greatest benefits to backyard chooks is the bountiful, and seemingly never-
ending amount of poo produced by your poultry. As any gardener will tell you, this stuff is full-on
fantastic fertiliser, and, if you use a straw based bedding material (think pea-straw or Lucerne) this
stuff can be cleaned straight out of the coop and shoveled into the compost. Now, if you are using
wood shavings in the nesting boxes and chook house, you can also add these to the compost, but be
aware that they can be painfully slow to decay, and need to be left to rot down until the shavings
dont look like shavings anymore, otherwise your garden will suffer. Oh, and ensure the wood isnt
treated with any sort of chemical or similar, bad for chooks, and for the patch.
If the chooks have been wormed, or treated with any anti-biotics, it is not recommended that chook
poop collected at this time be used in your compost or garden. Just pop it in your green waste bin for
a week, and, after that time, you will be ready to rock and roll once more!
The longer you can leave your chook poo to compost the better, as this stuff is really high in
nitrogen, and can do more harm than good when applied in big doses to the garden. Be particularly
mindful of this around young seedlings, and plants with sensitivity to high doses of nitrogen.
I love chooks, and cant imagine living without them. They do wonders for my garden, my stomach,
my back pocket and the planet plus they are just plain fun! Why not consider the try before you
buy option offered by a few different business (what a great idea!). This way, you can hire all the
gear you need, and a couple of chooks, and see what poultry as pets is all about. For those already
convinced, there are some awesome references available, both online and in books, a selection of
which are listed below.
So go on, what are you waiting for get clucking!
Hire a chook!
www.citychicks.com.au
www.bookachook.com
www.rentachook.com
Have a look!
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/action/ATOZ?s=1866264152,term=poultry
Read a book!
Brasch, N. (2007) Keeping Chickens An Australian Guide, Penguin, Camberwell, Victoria.
Moore, A (2008) Backyard Poultry, Naturally, Bolwarrah Press, Bolwarrah, Victoria.