On the 22nd of June 2011, we adopted three hens from the AWL. Two black chooks called Betty and Boo Boo and one red chook called Darla. We renamed them to Dawn, Dusk and Sunshine and they have made great friends with our red chook Rosie. They have three quarter of an acre block of land to explore, which consists of heavily mulched areas full of native shrubs and trees. These provide the chooks plenty of shade as well as numerous roosting perches, dust-baths and excavation sites, so the fun never ends. Their routine consists of waking up at 6:30AM to a breakfast of sweet corn kernels, peas, mixed seeds and grains, with a healthy side of bugs that they dig up in the garden. From 8:00AM onwards, they take turns laying eggs in the two nesting boxes provided in their coop, but for some reason they all seem to favour the left nesting box and sometimes Dawn and Dusk lay together in the same nest at the exact same time. 5:30PM is usually when they call it a day, returning to their coop, which has been fittingly christened ‘Corn Sweet Corn’ because sweet corn is their all-time favourite food. However, grated cheese, sardines, grapes, boiled spaghetti and baby spinach are all tied for second place! It’s an absolute delight to watch them in our garden, with or without the added bonus of the eggs.
Yvonne Medel
