Understanding chicken (chook) social behaviour makes it easier for the backyard enthusiast to properly house, feed and importantly, enjoy their personalities.
Chooks are really smart. They have exceptional eyesight, can recognise people’s facial features, distinguish colours and communicate with more than 24 vocal sounds. Their hearing is amazing too and they recognise differing voices, car noises and bird sounds from a great distance.
Whether it’s a nature sharing experience with family, part of garden/backyard management, or simply for their beauty or companionship, chooks make great pets. However, fresh eggs are the main reason most families keep chooks and no wonder, given their nutritional value, versatility as a breakfast favourite and essential ingredient in cooking cakes and pastries.
Three laying hens can typically supply about 18 eggs a week, and allowing for some ‘down time’ during winter due to diminished sunlight, that’s about 750 eggs a year. Being gregarious and sociable, there is safety in numbers; three hens being ideal for a small backyard.
All this information and more is available in the Chook Book, a 70-page, comprehensive guide to all aspects of backyard chooks and eggs.
Pipers Creek Landcare has copies of the Chook Book available free of charge. The hugely popular booklet, published by Barastock, is available by contacting Landcare via email at: piperscreeklandcare@gmail.com or phone 0448 401 372.
