Ingham Dave - Backyard chickens: how to keep happy hens

Keeping a few hens was once only for rural dwellers with big yards or inner-city hippies. Now its mainstream and an attractive proposition wherever you live. Fluffy little recycling units that eat weeds, bugs and scraps and turn them into organic eggs whats not to love? Chickens are great backyard pets for young and old theyre a natural extension for everyone with a vegie patch, and for those who like eggs but are concerned about the welfare of commercial hens. Whether youre an absolute beginner or experienced hen-owner, Dave Ingham offers compulsively readable advice on how to start, housing and feeding, settling chickens in with other pets, troubleshooting, and the (minimal) commitment required to keep your backyard hens healthy and happy.

CONTENTS

A FEW WORDS FROM MR CHICKEN

I have always loved birds. I love watching them move. However, it wasnt until university that I first kept birds as pets or had any relationship with chickens other than my surname (synonymous with poultry in Australia). Although I am not related in any way to those other Inghams, should they choose to shower me with largesse, Im sure I could find a familial link, however tenuous.

My grandparents kept chickens, but I only saw them three times because they lived on the other side of the world. I recall my grandmother bartering her fresh eggs for dry cleaning in the local town, and especially remember the first time I held a warm, just-laid egg, but not much else.

At university I lived in a ramshackle share-house on a huge block that was rented to students while it awaited demolition, subdivision and redevelopment. I inherited being a foodie from Mum and expanded my culinary options by growing as much food as possible in the vast garden available to me. Chickens were a natural addition. This all predated the Internet, of course, so I turned to the local library for books on keeping farm animals and to the newspaper classifieds for the hens themselves. My first coop was made of a wooden machinery packing case and some fencing mesh scavenged from a neighbourhood clean-up. It lasted for years and was exactly the right price for an impecunious university student.

A decade or so later I was asked to speak at a sustainable living project about modifications Id made to my house.There I was, waxing lyrical about the sustainability of chickens as pets, when, out of the blue, I offered my spare coop and a couple of hens on loan to the other participants. Someone coined the term Daves rent-a-chook and when the project finished I was photographed holding two hens. A piece in the local paper turned into an article in a national newspaper and two radio interviews and I thought, with this much free publicity, theres got to be a buck in it somewhere. A casual conversation with my friend Pete, some scribbling on a sheet of butchers paper on his kitchen table, and Rentachook was born.

In the 15 years since, Rentachook has had its ups and downs but most of all, its been a hoot. As well as becoming the go-to spokesperson for all-things-chicken, I have met amazing people who overcame their initial trepidation and came to share my passion for keeping hens.

Selling chickens, you cant take yourself too seriously. Beware: hens are sometimes known to spontaneously grow sharp little teeth that should be filed down before the birds become bloodthirsty. For many years Rentachook sold tooth files for the management of this poorly researched and little understood condition. The tooth files had quite special attributes, being both invisible and weightless. A bargain at just $10 each and all proceeds given to charity.

My favourite tooth file sale was to a guy Ill call Damien (not his real name). Damien ordered his coop and hens online, including extra feed and a tooth file. How I loved checking orders and finding one with a tooth file request.

Everything was delivered and all went well. However, a week later I got an email from Damien. He was thrilled with his new chickens, but couldn't find his tooth file. I replied with an apology and said I would send him one. I posted an empty padded envelope. Another polite email from Damien arrived later that week, advising that the envelope had arrived, but was empty. My reply included a link to the description on the website, clearly advising that the tooth files were invisible and weightless.

Another polite enquiry from Damien he didnt understand. I was on the point of sending him another empty envelope when I thought, I have to let him go. So I sent the reply, Have you ever heard the expression rare as hens teeth?

Damien: Oh.

Five minutes later, Damien again: Got me.

No sense of humour? Chickens arent for you.

Writing a book was a bigger undertaking than I first thought. Many thanks to Jane, my publisher, who persevered until I committed to it. Many thanks also to my mate Chris Allen, the author of the Intrepid books, who promised to throttle me if I didnt see it through. Hes an ex-paratrooper, so that provided motivation.

The most thanks of all to my family: to my three sons, Hamish, Alex and Ted, born in consecutive years, and my wife, Catriona, who makes me who I am and shares my penchant for not taking me seriously.

WHY KEEP CHICKENS?

I t might read as henvangelical, but I love keeping chickens and here are just a few of the reasons why I think everyone else should do so too.

Fresh free-range eggs: the best youve ever tasted

For my mind the showstopper of the chicken-keeping experience is the flavour of the eggs. Commercially produced eggs, especially cage eggs, come from hens that are, by necessity, fed a homogenous diet. This results in consistent eggs, but they lack the richness and depth of flavour that you get in eggs from backyard hens.

Backyard hens are free to eat whatever they fancy and this is a wider diet than you might expect, even if theyre not fed kitchen scraps. Hens are omnivorous, meaning they eat anything. Meat, vegies, weeds, grubs and bugs all go together to give you a really rich egg that is properly tasty to eat as well as looking tasty.

I once made two versions of scrambled eggs, using identical quantities and cooking methods, and served them up to friends. The only difference between the two was that one pan used home-grown Dave eggs and the other, commercial eggs. Immediately, you could see that one dish was richer in colour and just looked far yummier. The proof was in the eating and, while the Dave eggs were wolfed down, most of the other dish was left over. When I explained what Id done, everyone agreed that there was just something special about the home-grown eggs.