Over Christmas, we looked after a friend's chickens while she and her family went on holidays. Yes, we are not just dog minders, we are Chicken Wranglers! I was a bit nervous about it as I have never looked after chickens before, despite having them a crucial part of my dream of Moving To The Country.
It turned out to be super easy, in fact the hardest part was driving the few minutes to their house once or twice a day. The kids where very excited until the novelty wore off on day two, and to be honest Mr BC tended to the chooks most days, on his return from the early morning dog park jaunt.
In my Moving To The Country dream, the chook yard is much bigger than this chicken coop, but these ladies seemed very happy to share close living quarters and didn't even mind taking turns to lay eggs in one nesting box. Every day they need a quick run around the yard to see what's new, as well as fresh food, and fresh water - on hot days they need water twice a day. Getting them back into their share house was easy, just throw in a few handfuls of leftover salad and some bread and they can't get in there fast enough!
The best part of course was collecting the eggs, and on average they lay one egg each per day. One day we got nine eggs, and on a few days we got four or as little as two. I suspect the days we got two, the neighbours might have done a little egg shopping before we got there! Not that it really mattered, we had so many eggs that we were able to give some away.
I really liked looking after these chooks, and I don't think I will wait for my Moving To The Country dream to come true before we keep some chickens of our own. Do you have chickens? Got any tips? Do tell, I'm all ears.
xx