The Chook House
Over the years I have become an advocate of eating healthier, buying local, living smaller (well this one is not really true although my intentions are noble) and getting back to the grass roots. Two years ago we started our first veggie patch after sporadically growing herbs and carrots all over the yard in patches of sunshine. A year later we added our second patch and started two compost bins. A chook house was the next logical step of progression.
I am quite terrified of critters big and small. I used to not be. But now I am. That is just the way it is. Nick isn’t. When he was little he dreamt of being a farmer, why else would an 8 year old watch agricultural shows? For a while after that his ambition leaned towards working at the zoo. He has always loved animals and has had many pets growing up. He still does. But then he got caught up in the urban jungle like most of us do. Knowing he would be great with the chooks was the reason I initiated the whole chook house process. That and the kids being crazy excited about getting a pet. Well two pets. Correction. Three pets! And don’t forget that certain appeal a die hard foodie like me would have for freshly laid eggs. Oh the cakes I could bake!
After setting a budget and researching, we bought our chicken coop from K-Mate. In the past I have bought a massive stainless steel kitchen bench from them. The coop arrived promptly by road freight, well packaged in two boxes. Nick managed to put it together without bungling up in less than two hours. We then headed to the hardware store and bought some paint. In a couple of hours the chook pen was painted and ready for its house guests. The boys even had a go in the chook house pretending to be chickens, squawking merrily and pecking everywhere in that oddly staccato movement that chickens make.
On a fine Saturday morning we headed to Rent-A-Chook in Ryde and picked up Mario, Luigi And Yoshi, our three Isa Brown laying hens. The people there were very helpful with lots of useful advice. We bought a bag of 20 kg certified organic chicken feed, some worming tablets and wire netting for under the coop to prevent fox attacks. According to the guy at Rent-A-Chook, there were surprisingly 10 foxes per square kilometer in the Sydney area and chooks were often helpless victims to their preying habits. After also being given make shift feeders and waterers carved simply from plastic milk bottles we drove back home.
Then it rained and the chickens had to stay cooped up in their cardboard box (absolutely no pun intended!), while Nick and I quite comically set about lifting and shifting the entire chook house and getting the wire netting under it. Believe me, it wasn’t easy. Amidst Nick’s promise of back massages and the rain pelting on our backs, we kept persevering and managed to eventually get the wire netting under the chook house. A word to the wise, if your chook house doesn’t have a bottom (wood/wire netting or board) it is best to put that in first and then assemble the house over it. We like to stay fit, so we always do things the longer harder way.
In went the straw, the food and water. And then finally our three beautiful chickens. For the first day and night, they had to be literally pushed up the red ramp and then carried down as they had no clue what to do. But they caught on real quick. The next morning we made them some fresh spaghetti for breakfast. They weren’t overly excited about it. When Nick dug up some worms from the garden for them, they went nuts with excitement. I pretended that my feelings weren’t hurt when they seemed to prefer squishy fat worms over my perfectly cooked strands of spaghetti. Ah well!
The chook house is very cute and one of the largest available in the market. It has three nesting boxes and room for at least 4 to 5 more chooks. The two lighter coloured hens are Mario and Luigi and they are both very feisty and flighty, Luigi more than Mario. The littler darker brown one is Yoshi and is the most docile. The boys spend every waking minute talking to the chooks, hanging around the chook house and feeding them bread scraps and grass. Once or twice a day they are in their cuddling and petting them, something that will take me weeks to bring myself to do.
We have a very big garden and ocassionally we’ll let the chooks roam free making sure they don’t destroy the veggie patches. In time we’ll get a bigger chicken run so they have more space to explore and dig, something that they love doing. Despite being skittish, I am so glad we now have chooks. Our lives have changed even though we don’t know it yet and while the boys discuss chicken poop at the dinner table amidst guffaws of laughter and I catch Nick watching chicken videos on youtube, I know I am dreaming of bringing home a couple more very soon.
Cost Of Setting Up The Chook House
- Chook House – $562
- Paint – $80
- Chickens – $90
- Chicken Feed – $40
- Straw – $16
- Netting, Tablet & Sundries – $25
- Total Man Hours – 6 hours
TOTAL – $813
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By Blogsdna
Absolutely love this idea of keeping farm animals at home, and teaching kids to look after them and being so close to nature. And the names? Awesome, especially since they are hens!
Soooo beautiful! Love the photos especially of your little boys enjoying!!
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Congratulations on the new additions to your family!
I am sure all of the fresh eggs you will get will be amazing.
Jennifer (Delicieux)´s last [type] ..Flourless Chocolate Brownies
Girlfriend, those are the luckiest chickens ever–wish my house was so cute!
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective´s last [type] ..Everyone’s Favorite Chili Recipe
Fantastic, Sneh! Their little house is fab. Great to get the kids involved early, too. They’ll have such an appreciation for food.
My man’s parents always send us home with fresh eggs when we visit their farm, and I tell you, they are a joy to eat/cook with!
Yasmeen @ Wandering Spice´s last [type] ..The new Wandering Spice is here
this is fantastic!! looks like the boys are loving every bit of it
Manju´s last [type] ..Punjabi Chicken Curry
We used to have chooks when I was a kid, they were the best pets (and ate almost any kind of leftovers!) Your chook house is way more stylish than ours was though!! I’d definitely love to get some more when I’m in my own place.
Lisa´s last [type] ..Pimm’s Jelly
One of my dreams is this life is to have my own veggie garden and chooks! You are literally living my dream
Lovely photos of your boys! Every photo is fit to go up onto the wall for a little gallery at home.
Mrs Ergül´s last [type] ..Passionfruit Cheesecake Pots
Wow. Such joy to have animals as pets at home. I had a pair of mini sized turtles – just 8 months old. We called them TOuche and Aloha. Had to give them away unfortunately because of certain health risks involved in having turtles that size and babies under 5 years of age.
But I love this post of yours and the detail you’ve provided. Thanks!
Anita Menon´s last [type] ..Muffin Monday : Olive Oil Muffins with Toasted Almonds and Chocolate
Lol!! YOU COOKED THEM SPAGHETTI?? rofl.
& I hadn’t considered until martyna’s comment that those hens might have gender crises ahead!! Lol love the names though.
My housemate just commented how cool your photos are. I agree!!
Shaun @ everybody loves ramen´s last [type] ..Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness!
I am completely in love with your chickens, and with your paint job! We’ve been talking about getting chickens for over a year but just haven’t done it yet
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Talk about investing in some great real estate! I wish I had some room in the city for a little chicken coop, but not yet. Someday!
http://www.therealestatescoop.com/investing-real-estate.php
Good to see that, you have new family members now. And these chickens are so adorable. I’d love to turn veggie if I stay with them for a while..
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Check that out! Your very own chook house! That’s fantastic. The pictures are wonderful.
oooh so cute like a little cubby house! fresh eggs are definitely better than supermarket ones!
super loved this post! have always wanted some chooks of my own but thanks to where i live guess ill live vicariously thru your posts!
oh me gosh! you really do have one at home
how cool is that!!! I cannot hold a bird. The boys look so good and they are def. having a lot of fun.
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There´s nothing like a delicious free range chicken egg. My mother in law has a few at her house and all they eat is corn grains and organic cabage from her kitchen garden and the egg yolks are golden and taste like heaven. A cake made with these eggs is a delicacy.
Great blog by the way:))
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Adorable chook house! We’ve also just ventured into the delights of backyard chooks, I am totally in love with them, despite the fact that they haven’t started laying yet (trying to be patient). I wasn’t aware of the chicken wire on the floor of the coop, might have to think about this too…
great that you guys put it together ! looks cute…have fun with the chickens
a spoonful of yumm´s last [type] ..Apple Blog Hop ! Apple Chutney Toast
That is a very smart hen house. Your chickens will be very happy. I’m sure they love the colour scheme too.
Hotly Spiced´s last [type] ..“Mum – I’m Putting the Band Together”
Lucky chooks! Love the photo of where she’s peeping out of the box.
This is the cutest post ever! I love the look of your chook house. I think it’s wonderful for the kids and your family for their exsistence. My boyfriend’s family have chooks as well and whenever his 3yo nephew comes over, he likes to pay a visit to the chooks and feed them grass lol
Phuoc’n Delicious´s last [type] ..Cheeky chocolate, North Strathfield