Chooks Boost Gross National Happiness Index

It’s almost impossible to be glum when your chooks are ferreting about the garden looking for unwary bugs or a ripe cherry tomato at pecking level. Their ridiculous behaviour, from squawking loudly when they lay an egg in them idle of the pumpkin bed (‘look at me!’) to when stroll about in posse seeking food, looking and sounding for all the world like a group of chattering teenagers, is a joy to behold.

Just as Bhutan has a Gross National Happiness index, so do chooks boost your own GNH levels.

Layne inspects a barrow full of weeds for a juicy bug

In these strange times, when the news is full of doom and gloom, when the pap that TV networks curiously believe passes for quality programming and when we all face so many pressures at work and home, thank heavnes for chooks. Sitting in your garden, no matter how humble with a cup of tea and watching your girls amble about is an oasis of calm and an antidote to all the unhappiness about.

At the moment the cheeky girls are helping but turning over the soil in the old summer veggie beds. Their dedication in digging out the old plants, carefully scrutinizing them for insects and other edible delights is tempered by their short attention span; the moment one spots a passing moth or spies me down by their pen with a bucket, they give are off, soon followed by their friends whom assume that food has been spotted.

Chooks can also bring your a happiness connection to your neighbourhood. Not just in the exchange of eggs for lemons, lawn mowing and fresh home-baked bread as in my case, but by provide a relaxing topic of conversation. My back neighbor is a quiet chap who pretty much keeps to himself but his face always breaks into a smile when we talk about ‘the girls’ and he sees them doing their ridiculous prancing about the garden. Another dear neighbour keeps her grandchildren from grizzling when they argue by reminding them, “don’t whine like that, it upsets Alison’s chooks”. This white lie is backed up by the fact my chooks love it when the young twins visit, eagerly clutching scraps from last night’s dinner to feed the greedy girls.

In a world full of disasters, wars, GFC and more local and personal troubles, take the a few moments to watch your chooks. You'll go back to the rest of your life a happier and more relaxed person.