Tales of two chickens

It can actually be quite stressful having chickens as pets. They are endearing creatures and when there are only 2 or 3 of them it's easy to become attached, and sad when you lose them.

Building the chicken house

White chook and Brown chook

Living on five acres in the Whitsundays hinterland, not far from Airlie Beach, in amongst the dry vine forest up on a hill is not for the fainthearted when it comes to native wildlife.

One night I awoke to a loud squawk from the chicken house and wondered why White chook was wandering around the front lawn. As I pulled myself up out of slumber I soon realised that that's not meant to happen. Uh oh! What am I going to find out there? Heart racing as I fumbled with the torch and tentatively walked the garden path at midnight, I could see something slithering along the chook house. I don't know who was more frightened; me or the chickens. Our visiting bird, Big, was frozen to the roost and still didn't move when I opened the side door as an escape route. I shone the torch on the scrub python (from a distance!) hoping to move it along. I didn't know what else to do and I certainly didn't want to upset it. Eventually it moved off slowly up into the tree, all 1.2 metres of it, as the girls and I breathed a sigh of relief. Big chook then launched herself out of the chook house, practically into my arms. I had to relocate them for the rest of the night, settling them on the garden bench seat in the carport. It took me an age to get back to sleep, thinking the snake will return and my head full of snake images. A pity I didn't get a photo though.

The other hazard of living here is the presence of hawks - according to the locals they are only prominent during August and September and then disappear down south. Hawks are bold daytime hunters and love the tasty chicken necks to take back to the nest for the young ones. Their modus operandi is to corner the chicken, stand on it and rip the head off with a clean bite. They don't leave a mark anywhere else on the chicken but feathers are strewn around the carcass.

First to go was Brown chook; hence the visiting chook to keep White chook company until we could source some more chickens. I came home one day to find White chook practically crying under a shrub near the kitchen window. I spent all afternoon looking for Brown chook, and then waiting for her to come home to roost. I knew she had gone but one lives in hope. It took us a couple of days to find her and it wasn't a pretty sight - feathers everywhere and her headless body covered in green ants. We were devastated (spot the novice chicken owners!).

So now we had one lonely chicken and it would be a few weeks before we could get anymore. So, we took a drive down our street to the neighbours who have eggs for sale to see if they knew where we could get some more chooks in a hurry. No luck there, but he offered to loan us one of his until we got more. How kind! So that's how we ended up with Big chook for a few weeks holiday. Thank goodness the snake or hawk didn't get her and we could return her in one piece. She was a lovely bird  - we would have liked to have kept her but she wasn't for sale.

Big chook and White chook

Introducing Red chook and Speckly to keep Whitey company, and to get more eggs of course. Whitey turned into a bully and pecked the other two, but eventually after a few days each chook was in its place. Speckly had obviously had a hard time in the big hen house as her tail feathers were missing and she had a gammy toe, but she had a good temperament and was starting to be less terrified and range around more as time went on. But it was to be to her detriment, as on the sixth day of the two new chooks arriving the hawk struck again. I knew something was up as we pulled into the driveway after an outing with visitors. It was too quiet. I found Speckly in the same predicament that befell Brown chook. The other chooks were nowhere to be seen, but eventually White chook was found unscathed tucked in behind a water tank and Red chook was hiding in the forest behind the kitchen garden. Both of them are good flyers so I think that's what saved them.

Speckly and Red chook

Another collection of feathers and a burial. It was time to build an enclosure big enough for them to roam around in and be protected from the birds of prey. Being free range does have its drawbacks.
It was decided under the balcony would be closed in. The chook house was moved, the perimeter wired up, a gate inserted and some shade cloth installed to create a safe chicken run. Thanks to our visitors (also chook lovers) for their assistance.

New chicken run under the balcony

Now we are back to two chickens, with another two on order. They say if you want two chickens then get four, but it seems the hawks have gone for now. I let the chooks out when I am at home and they seem more bold as they days progress. When they first arrived, White and Brown chook were not afraid to go anywhere - up the driveway, into the jungle, over to next door's garden - but Whitey reined in her roaming once Brown chook died. Then, for a few weeks after losing Speckly, White and Red would only stay in the shadows or hide in the secret garden under the giant monsteria and variegated ginger plants. They were pretty spooked.

RIP Speckly - victim of a hawk

Red chook laid her first egg yesterday, a tiny one in comparison to Whitey's egg. It's fascinating to watch them grow into the point of lay. The comb and wattle become larger and redder as they get older, and once they go into the submissive pose you know they aren't far off laying.

First egg compared to laying for 5 months

Chickens are the best pets really, as they eat all the kitchen scraps, chase down the bugs in the garden (they love grasshoppers!), aerate and fertilise the soil, and produce eggs. They do wake up early though, and if you have a noisy bird it's hard to have a sleep in. Also you have to be prepared to lose one or two along the way.

Book chook

Red chook in the Frangipani