The chickens should come first not the blog! But when I get excited (or angry, frustrated, happy, sad) about something, as well as telling everyone about it, I write about it! So finally, after much reading, day dreaming, longing, and more reading, I’ve chosen my chicken coop! (yes I bet you thought I was going to say something much more interesting than that didn’t you!) And I found ONE place that sells the coop, hay, feed, waterer and feeder (perhaps not exactly what they are called?), but most importantly….THE CHICKENS too!.......

I don’t know what exactly it is about having chooks that appeals to me. I know they are great pets, they have personalities of their own, so I think it will be fantastic for my children who are two and four & continually harass our poor old dog so they'll get to learn to love and care for more fragile living creatures! The eggs are definitely appealing and one of the original draw cards! As I get more into the veggie garden I am excited by the prospect of being able to use the chook poo/hay combo as an organic fertiliser and I am also very keen on the idea of having another disposal for our food scraps, as the worms don’t have the appetite I had first anticipated so I’m still putting a lot of waste into the green bin!

I’ve been known to jump in head first without researching things but there are a few reasons why I haven’t been able to do that in this situation, therefore I’ve been able to really find out what I’m getting myself in for and there seems to be nothing anyone can say that is going to put me off. I’m fixed!!

Today I learnt that you can't put the chook manure straight onto your garden, it has to sit separate or in the compost for about a month before being introduced (unless the plants are quite mature), so I'm going to have to hijack another small section of the garden for 'manure management'! Slowly but surely I will get rid of those pompus box hedges!

There are a few considerations and things that may make being a chook owner a little more challenging (yes other than 'manure management'). Firstly we have to secure the veggie patch or apparently the chooks will ravage it. Secondly we have to secure an area of the backyard so they don’t go places they shouldn’t (like in the house) when they are left to roam & forage. People have told me and I've read, that they poo all over everything, dig up everything, they attract rodents (they want their food) and foxes (the chooks are their food). I'm also concerned that our dog may not think the chooks are welcome in his yard so there will definitely be some kind of timetable drawn up so everybody gets their fair share of 'outside time'. I also read an article today that recommended chatting to your neighbours before going down the chook road to see how they feel about the situation. I'm definitely all for avoiding a run-in with those we share a fence with, they are lovely people, but this chat is not going to happen because no one is going to stand between me and my chooks (just kidding, I'm not that crazy, I'm just not going to ask my neighbours permission!).   

On my chickenless drive home from the farm that we're buying them from I ask my son.... "are you going to help me look after the chooks?" and he replies "yes...and we're not allowed to chase them"!! I think he'll be a great help!

So anyway, there's all the hype about my next adventure. Feels a bit empty and lonely, but I'm sure my next instalment will be full of life!!

Happy Living!

Part 2 - The girls are here!

We finally have two chooks! Some of you might think 'big deal, why would you want those', or others may be thinking, 'big deal, we have them too' (actually if you have chooks you're probably excited for me because you know how amazing they are!) But, now they're here, in our back yard, and I'm one happy little chook owner! Our kids love having them as part of our family and my husband has taken to them too. They definitely give the kids a sense of responsibility because they are able to help feed the chooks, change the hay, let them out and usher them back in if needed, and the best part, collect the eggs (although we've lost a few between the coop and the kitchen so we're working on that!) and we've all been spending much more time outside in the backyard the last few weeks (helped by the beautiful weather of course).

The first week when we let them out to roam free they just wandered around the yard exploring and foraging and didn't really take much notice of us. Now they follow us around wanting some company, they will peck at any part of you if you stand still for more than a few seconds and are generally really good company! They are absolutely beautiful birds and fascinating to watch too. If they're out to roam free I'll keep going outsite to check on them, see what they're up to and make sure they're still there! Seeing them wander around gives me a sense of peace & satisfaction, perhaps I could describe it as a very earthy feeling!

I still have a lot of questions about the best things to feed them, everybody I speak to and everything I read says something different, to the point of total confusion, but we'll get there eventually. I'll leave you with that for now, I really have no intention of boring you with my chook tales, but it's hard to keep the excitement in! No doubt you'll be hearing more as my next project is to get a range of herbs into the garden that are beneficial for the health of our feathered friends.