We have backyard chooks and we get such a lot of joy from them. Firstly we love to eat their eggs, and can tell which chook has laid which egg – the small brown speckled eggs, vs the big white eggs and its not who you might expect! We now have seven chooks, 5 red ones – and they are just called the red ones – they hang together like a gang, there is one that is more adventurous than the others but they all help each other. The 2 older chooks – I think they must nearly 4 years old by now are a white leghorn and a speckled wyandotte. Speck is our favourite – she is independent and quiet and while not shy she is not aggressive either. The white one is called the ‘racer’ she used to be one half of the ‘racing twins’ but her sister was killed by a dog. Here are three of our girls pictured below – aren’t they beautiful?

Having chooks in our lives has meant a few things for us – firstly we don’t waste any food – the chooks eat all the scraps – dinner plate scraping and vegie peelings – everything – even bacon rinds and the fatty bits from meat. It is very gratifying being able to recycle your leftover food into eggs. And not just any eggs – these eggs are rich and golden and beautiful to eat and cook with. Eggs have become a major part of our diet – we eat eggs for breakfast at least 3 times a week – and when we have an abundant supply we do a lot of baking – sponge cakes, pavlova and lemon butter – yum yum. But also its nice to have eggs to give away – to neighbours and friends – we sometimes swap them for fresh lemons or other garden produce. It feels good to be able to have something worthy to give.

And on top of all those benefits, nothing can beat how much the kids love the chooks. They get so much joy and learning from them. From when they are born to when they die and everything in between – their eggs, their eating patterns and their personalities – its all an important topic of discussion. If you don’t yet have a couple of chooks yet – please get some straight away.