Choose the right chickens for your backyard | Beneficial animals and insects | Gardening Australia
Ойын-сауық
Costa heads to Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula to meet a woman with a passion for poultry, and profiles the best backyard breeds. And why wouldn’t you want them? Sure, they provide us with eggs, but they are also champion composters, perfect pest control, living fertiliser factories, and pretty great pets.
Fleur Baker knows chickens, having kept them for the bulk of her life. Self-described ‘Head Chook’ at her property, Fleur has been recommending chickens for schools, community gardens and private properties for many years, and has some clucking great suggestions for people looking to keep their own chooks.
Consider Your Climate
Fleur has several criteria that people should consider when picking poultry as a pet, with the first being considering your climatic conditions. Choose a chook that suits your climate, with some better able to handle heat and cool over others.
Cool Climate Cluckers - Most chooks cope fairly well with cooler areas, provided they can roost somewhere warm and dry at night.
Warm Climate Cluckers - In warmer climates, some of the lighter bodied and lighter feather varieties are more appropriate. These include Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds or Transylvanian Naked Necks for something a little different. Shade and fresh, cool water must be provided regardless.
Finding an Egg-cellant Layer
There are many different breeds that are egg-ceptional layers, including Australorps, Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, Maran, and even some of the bigger chooks like Plymouth Rocks and Sussex. But for Fleur, the Best Backyard Layer is the Bantam Langshan - good size eggs from a great little laying chook.
Egg-ceptional Egg for Easter
While chocolate eggs are most peoples go-to for this time if year, different chicken breeds will lay eggs of different colours. Arucanas lay a beautiful green-blue egg, Leghorns lay a white egg, but the Most Impressive Egg goes to the French Maran. Their eggs have a dark, almost ‘chocolate’ coloured shell and while the egg isn’t actually chocolate, it looks very impressive!
Chooks in Space
Allowing enough room for chooks to roost, roam, feed and fraternise is vitally important. A couple of square meters of outdoor space per chicken is ideal, especially if they are confined to an enclosed run, rather than free ranging through (and making a mess of) the whole garden. In smaller urban spaces, Bantam breeds should be considered as they require less space, with Fleurs fave being the Pekin Bantam. Pekin Bantams are low maintenance, great temperament, fun, friendly tidy little chooks, perfect as a family pet.
You should also check with your council regulations regarding the number of chickens that can be kept in your area, as well as any other stipulations.
Who Makes a Great Pet
Wyandottes, Australorps and Pekins make tremendous pets, given their relaxed and friendly nature. But the Best Backyard Pet from Fleurs perspective is the fabulous Frizzle - cute balls of fluff with wonderful temperaments and minimal maintenance requirements.
Best All-Round Chook
Taking out the top honours for best backyard chook is the Bantam Langshan - good layers, hardy chooks with minimal health problems with great temperaments and personalities to boot. And they’re great for a smaller, urban backyard spaces. Now that really is a chicken to crow about!
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Пікірлер: 57
All my chooks are from Fleur Book a Chook. I couldn’t be happier they are so cute. Lovely to see her on gardening Australia
@Naturelover00023
4 жыл бұрын
I’m so jealous right now!! 😉. 🖐🏼✌️
Ive had chooks and ducks for years and we love them. Waffles (our little Silkie) pops through the fence (😏) every afternoon, comes in for a snack and a snooze, then goes back to her friends. Couldn’t live without them. Today I made a sign from old fence palings and I’ll be selling the eggs👍💖
We just got our kids 5 Australorps for our backyard. Great temperament, 3yr daughter loves carrying them around, even found her trying to sleep in their coop! Our daughters love them. Came up with some interesting names too: - Billie B (from Billie B Brown books) - Yoko (she loves eating Beatles too!) - Nuggets (the girls like them) - Princess Layer (Star Wars) - Ray (Star Wars) We purchase coloured leg tags to help with identification. Stay safe and sane.
I'm biased for Black Astaporps and Isa Browns. Both give on average of 300 eggs a year. Get along great together, and are both ready to be picked up. Perfect hens.
Please be safe while gardening in Australia. Much love from the Netherlands. Can't wait for this to be available.
Great story, thank you for sharing 😄 We love our bantams! Personality plus and fab layers! Feathered pets rule! ❤️
Some excellent tips there. Thank you.
Loved the whole show last night. Thank you. Excellent.
Great video thanks
Miss our girls: Lulu, PP and Cilla (named after singers in the 60s). Luckily we found a forever home for them when we went overseas.
I put a bbq chook in my backyard. He's doing really well. Laying lots of eggs too.
Thank for your nice video 😊😊😊
My broody Pekin x Frizzle hatched 3 Pekin chicks overnite. She is my only chook and the Pekin is known for being a great sitter and mother hen. :)
SILKIES FOR SURE!!!😊
She didn’t mention silkies, the most adorable pet chickens
Could we have a quail verse's chickens storey or one on keeping quail?
Those are gorgeous chicken🐥🥰😍we just got 2 and it been great
Trying to get ANY chooks atm was a real hassle. Never thought it would be.(in Perth). Ended up putting name on a waiting list & the choice was hyline browns. Hope they're great little layers,companions & garden enviroment enhancers👍😊
@JulieWallis1963
3 жыл бұрын
@Sandgroper. Would you consider rehousing some exhausted workers. Even though battery farms are outlawed here in the uk, the poor girls that leave the so called “free range” barns are often in appalling condition but apparently they plump up and grow new feathers in no time. They’d appreciate you rescuing them. I’m considering rescuing some, that’s why I’m looking at the work involved in caring for them.
what no Silkies? (super cute & great mums) or ex-caged girls (super layers!) Mine make me smile every day! 😊🐔👍
"Chooks" is this an Australian term for Chickens?
@GardeningAustralia
3 жыл бұрын
It sure is, mate!
@matthewharris-davies8368
Жыл бұрын
And a bloody good rugby team 😊
I'm terrified of sick chooks or what happens when they're ill/no longer lay. :(
Thank you both very much for all that information, that’ll help me decide what types of chickens are the best match for my home ✌️😇💝
How did you get Agent Pimento to come on the show?
We, Isa Brown's are great layers of eggs. But we don't know where the go eggxactly!
Do different breeds of chooks all cluck the same language?
Can someone reply to this to help me with my chickens respiratory problem? She nearly died from suffocation when I handled her today so I don't want to handle her again to take her to vet. Please help my sweet girl
@Gardening Australia I really want to live in Australia when I'm older, and really really want to take my pet chickens with me. Is that possible to transport chickens over to Australia from America. And how much would it cost?
@GardeningAustralia
4 жыл бұрын
Pretty hard to bring any organic materials or pets into Australia, you'd have to check with customs but I imagine you'd be better off finding a new home for your chickens and getting some new chicken friends when you're here.
@ambercurrie6871
4 жыл бұрын
@@GardeningAustralia Oh, okay. Well thanks for responding. I love my chickens like any other pet and I don't think I could part with them. If you don't mind me asking, why does Australia make it so hard to transport pets over. I understand things like rabbits which populate fast and eat crops, but what's wrong with chickens?
@tiotoy99
3 жыл бұрын
@@ambercurrie6871 biosecurity, disease, introduced pests. Our ecosystem can be devastated by introduced foreign species (which has already occurred).
@homesteadingtennesseeriver569
2 жыл бұрын
If you're from America you lucky thier letting you in.
@XxBloggs
Жыл бұрын
You wouldn’t get a residency visa as a retiree.
We’ve got a dog that tries to eat the chooks. We’ve had them in the past but have always had problems with mites, lice and even rats. Any advice on treating mites and lice, as well as keeping rats away?
@stickynutjuicemoved959
2 жыл бұрын
Go to an exotic vet, they'll give them a shot and get it sorted immediately. Much more effective and easier than home remedies
Hi are garden Australia staying safe
@GardeningAustralia
4 жыл бұрын
TeamOceanox All safe thank you. The videos may look like we haven’t got social distancing down but they were all filmed before we all started working from home. Hope you’re staying safe too.
@Icarus_and_Me
2 жыл бұрын
Mrs Jessup 🙄
Give me chicken sir from phillipines thank you ❤️
We're is costos dress 👗?
Ummmmm I'm thinking there's one more good reason too
Know a good barber for this guy?
What about a meat chook?
@CitizenAyellowblue
4 жыл бұрын
g patto Agreed. Politically incorrect to discuss I guess.
@amandakenneally8475
4 жыл бұрын
Scott O'Keeffe Perhaps personalising chickens makes it confronting to follow through on taking their lives. Billions of chickens are killed every year so it's not *that* politically incorrect.
I had chickens off an on by the time I got them established hell I was getting a divorce. Not once but twice. Well Im getting them established again no wife this time just chickens an some ducks , rabbits , couple of goats. No more wife's rather have chickens. I'm doing couple videos on my progress every one's welcome to look. I'm only using a phone for filming and I'm not editing. So I gonna do a few along. Just something to do . I work around my new homestead just about every day .I don't work. Well I don't get paid any way home steading thier plenty of work to go around
This guy looks like those hobits on lord of the rings 🤣😂😂😂
@ramname7190
3 жыл бұрын
Thats rascist, he is a human not a hobit.
@Engineer_Heathen
3 жыл бұрын
More like a dwarf
@hynot9175
2 жыл бұрын
@@Engineer_Heathen no, he's just a big garden gnome.
Talk about clickbait.
@GardeningAustralia
4 жыл бұрын
Or perhaps chickbait?
@Frombie_01
4 жыл бұрын
@@GardeningAustralia You win. The anticipation is (figuratively) killing me. Three of my favourite things in life, gardens (can be read as Gardening Australia), Costa and chickens
@fCLEF007
4 жыл бұрын
@@GardeningAustralia cluckbait?