Essay No. 4 ( 27 November, 2001 ):

'Chooks' in the back garden!

By R. D. Martin

Almost every child wants to pat and hold a hen or day old chick. Several years ago a couple of retired chick sexers, Hartley Hall and Charlie Bode, together with my 14 year old son, Matthew, and yours truly, had a book stall in the poultry pavilion at the Royal Melbourne Show selling our book 'The Specialist Chick Sexer.'

A continuous crowd of children and adults at our stand at the Royal Melbourne Show. There were many young poultry keepers amongst them I am happy to say. Most "kids" love chickens, in fact they love all animals I guess.

We also had, over the five days we were there, a couple of thousand day old cockerels, some were on display in a large glass brooder, others we had in boxes so that the children could see at close quarters and could pick them up and hold them gently in their hands. We changed the chickens every half hour so that the chickens would not get stressed; also we had three batches of newly hatched chicks over the five days.

It was a big attraction at the poultry pavilion and we always had a crowd of children and adults around us. With the hundreds of children of all ages that passed through all were very gently with the day old chickens. As any poultry exhibitor will tell you the most often asked question by the children at the poultry section is: "Mum…why can't I have some chooks?"

There are several advantages in a having a few hens in your back garden: taking time off to watch hens scratching around is a very relaxing for 'children' of all ages, it can be very therapeutic, as well as this there is great satisfaction in producing your own fresh eggs.

While some neighbours may complain if you have a rooster crowing from 2 a.m. onwards, most people like to hear a hen cackling on a sunny day.

Even having five hens on clean dry litter will supply most suburban gardens with all the fertiliser they need. Five hens kept for a coupe of years will keep a family of four supplied in eggs plus a few left over to give away. A good laying hen will lay about 260 in her first year of laying, even in their second year of laying many strains still produce a worthwhile number of eggs.

When they have finished laying you could sell them in the local poultry markets if you do not want to eat them cooked in a soup or as boilers.

Having once been a commercial poultry farmer and poultry breeder I tend to think only of keeping all one kind of birds together and keeping them for their egg laying ability. But for those not concerned with producing a large number of eggs, there are a wide variety of different breeds available all of which have distinctive and beautiful cloured plumage. There are too many breeds and colours to name here, but visit a local poultry show, in particular the varies State Royal shows. There are also many breeds of bantams to choose from as well. If my good wife had her way we would have at least 20 birds each one a different colour and breed, plus several roosters. But I find it almost impossible to think about hens except as a uniform laying flock, this gives me the greatest pleasure, but all the family get pleasure out of our small uniform back garden flock, irrespective of my bias.

The "financial reward" of fresh eggs and the pleasure that all members of the family gain from collecting the egg. Why is it that everyone loves collecting the eggs!?

The number of hens local councils will allow you to keep in back gardens varies from state to state in Australia. A few years ago you could keep up to 50 adult hens in Victoria and in New South Wales there wasn't any limit, most other States you could keep up to 20 adult birds. All this depends on you having suitable space and having checked with your local council first. Five laying hens is sufficient to supply eggs for most families with a few eggs over to give away occasionally

They eat any left over table scraps, as well you need a good supply of layer pellets in front of them all the time and of course fresh clean water, plus a few green weeds from the garden, or when weeds are in short supply a few old lettuce leaves from the supermarket of greengrocer. Going back to household scraps, in our home, we always seem to have more scraps when we have hens in the back yard: I have my suspicions that my good wife, Marlene, like me a 'chook' person from way back, gets old bones which she makes into a kind of soup for them, also we always seem to have rice left over for them, this gives her great satisfaction. We also have a friend who saves clean and neatly packed household scraps for our chooks, which we usually collect from her after Church most Sundays.

Planning a 'chook' house to blend in with the garden.

This is where your creativity comes in providing certain criteria are met: council regulations with regard distance from the house, boundary fences, and bird numbers are adhered to, the pen needs to be in a dry spot and in a position where the sun shines into the pen for at least some part of the day. To give you an idea of the size of shed needed, give each bird approximately three square feet of floor space is ample, or a structure about 2m x 1.7m will house 10 hens in comfort. A smaller shed can be used if the birds have an outside run on a grassy area. But for a small suburban backyard or garden it is best to keep the birds confined. A shed needs plenty of ventilation, but with some protection against strong winds.

Other equipment are nests, a water trough, a tube feeder which can be hung from the roof, have it hanging from the roof makes it mouse proof, the bottom of the feeder needs to be about the hight of the bird's back. A small container to place some shell grit in is also a must. Care of the scratch litter, I use rice hulls, but any such litter such as chopped straw, dry leaves or what ever, kept about 6 inches thick. If it is kept dry and pliable, with an odd rake over when necessary it will not smell, nor will it attract flies. You will be amazed how you never see any fresh foul droppings or any smell in a well managed litter floor. You will also need some perches for the birds to camp on a night, these can be made of timber 50 x 25mm laid on the flat and allowing at least 0.25m per bird. Nest for say 10 hens: an open nest with three 0.3m deep compartments place on the floor or nailed to one wall would be adequate, remember the hens like a private cosy spot for a nest.

Within a year the creeper on the right will cover the entire roof, not only to keep the pen cool but also to add to the harmony of the garden. The pen is 2 metres from all boundary fences.

Is a rooster necessary?

The presence of a rooster only affects the fertility of the eggs and not the number of eggs they lay. A rooster is unnecessary for a few birds in your back garden and should be avoided to maintain a good relationship with your neighbours. Unlike the writer who likes to hear the early morning crowing of a rooster, your neighbours being awakened by a crowing rooster at 2-30 in the morning is perhaps pushing neighbour relations a bit far. Some poultry writers' claim that hens are more contented with a rooster in the flock, I tend to agree with this. You can make up for this by having your children take an interest in the birds and when you are giving them household scraps or grass cuttings talk to them. Birds, animals and plants, like us humans, benefit from a bit of attention and a chat. The birds, animals and plants and us, all benefit by being spoken too and being given a bit of attention. Remember most children love a live pet and will take an interest in a small flock of birds. Often the feeding, watering and egg collection can be left to the children, who with some supervision, will learn a lot from contact with the flock.

Note the windvane rooster Peter made for the top.

Is a rooster necessary?

The presence of a rooster only affects the fertility of the eggs and not the number of eggs they lay. A rooster is unnecessary for a few birds in your back garden and should be avoided to maintain a good relationship with your neighbours. Unlike the writer who likes to hear the early morning crowing of a rooster, your neighbours being awakened by a crowing rooster at 2-30 in the morning is perhaps pushing neighbour relations a bit far. Some poultry writers' claim that hens are more contented with a rooster in the flock, I tend to agree with this. You can make up for this by having your children take an interest in the birds and when you are giving them household scraps or grass cuttings talk to them. Birds, animals and plants, like us humans, benefit from a bit of attention and a chat. The birds, animals and plants and us, all benefit by being spoken too and being given a bit of attention. Remember most children love a live pet and will take an interest in a small flock of birds. Often the feeding, watering and egg collection can be left to the children, who with some supervision, will learn a lot from contact with the flock.

Ornamental Appeal.

The top floor with some colour broiler chickens we reared. When they were a day old they appeared on Australian national television with me, it seemed a shame to waist them so I bought them home. They were very tasty.

For those who are not so concerned with producing a large number of eggs, there are a wide variety of different breeds available all of which have distinctive and beautiful coloured plumage, or you may like to have a mixture of colours and breeds.

To finish I am reminded the pleasure my own four children, three girls and a boy, got from collecting eggs on our own commercial farm, before they, and the farm, got too big to have them help with collecting eggs each Sunday. While it was a chore to have to come home and change their clothes and help with the egg collecting, with roosters and all to content with, none of them seemed to mind, in fact most times they enjoyed it.

Good Luck with your back garden chooks!

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Box Hill South VIC 3128
AUSTRALIA

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