HAPPY HENS

KEEPING your backyard chooks happy is the key to getting great eggs.

 

Ensuring they have a constant supply of cool and clean fresh water, food and a relaxed environment all make those cackleberrries extra-good.

 

Free-range is the go but foxes, even in urban areas, can be a problem.

 

Lat night a galpal on acreage at Bellbrae called to say her flock of hens were being stalked by a fox. So confident was this it predator, it was even turning up while she only 10m away putting out the washing!

 

Now she is going to build a totally enclosed run to keep them safe.

 

 

As my yard backs onto the Bellarine rail trail which can seem to be a fox highway at times, so I don't allow the gals out in the garden unless I'm there.

Eggs ain't eggs

GOLDEN-HUED yolks.

Whites so firm they half meringue without the mixmaster.

A taste so complex yet simple, you have to be there. Sponges so light they practically float off the plate. Creamy, scrambled eggs and cakes with an extra dimension of deliciousness. 

Yep, I'm talking about home-grown eggs. Or should i say home-harvested?

 

Whatever the name, these eggs are sensational.

I know I'm biased but the people whom I pass on some of my extra cackleberries say the same.

My flock of five girls (Hilda, Layne, Gidget, Ledger and Laura) average four to five eggs a day and they reflect their mostly free-range lifestyle. I let them out ta dawn and shut them back up around 7.30am before i head off to work.

Arriving home around 5.45pm, they are again released to wander across the lawn and encouraged to turn over land which will be another veggie bed come the weekend. 

They are fed lots of food scraps, oodles of fresh greens and have access to clean, cool water on top of their usual pellets. They are loved and have their own fox-proof hutch and fully enclosed run my friends refer to as Cluckingham Palace. And they are so worth it.

Hilda and her posse are a wonderful  mixture of bug-eaters, fertilisers and magic producers. I says magic because their eggs are fantastic. 

Nothing beats your own eggs and my feather riot, rescue chooks all, are up there with the best.

If you have room and you don't need much, consider getting a couple of hens and you'll be amazed at how your cooking and your garden is transformed.

Keep QLD free-range

CHOICE, the consumer advocacy group note the Queensland government has stealthily scrambled its own free-range standard by increasing stocking densities to 10,000 birds per hectare.

Until recently, regulations in Queensland said that stocking densities for 'free-range' eggs must not be more than 1,500 birds per hectare.

That means they have increased densities by 667%!

Consumers who choose to buy free-range eggs should be able to do so with confidence.


Currently the Model Code has a maximum of 1,500 birds per hectare. T

his Code is now undergoing a review, however the decision by Queensland undermines these efforts.

Send your email to the Queensland government and let them know that 10,000 birds per hectare is not free-range!

Free range farmer scoops award

FREE-range egg farmer Anne Westwood has won the Australian National Energy Globe Award for sustainable farming practices.

Anne and her husband, Phil, from West Gippsland, have about 1000 chooks on their Grantville property, as well as cattle and sheep for grazing.

Read all about Anne and Phil and their free range chook farm...

Free Range Debate

In the Weekly Times today there is an interesting debate article discussing how egg producers have let fly with their criticism of Coles' decision to phase out house-brand cage eggs by 2013. They spoke out at this year's Australian Egg Corporation Limited annual general meeting, held in Adelaide last week. Read more

Alison's chooks enjoying the good life.

Also check out the Free Range Farmers website.

Another reason for those of you with a garden (no matter how small) is to consider getting a couple of chooks. Not only are they easy and cheap to maintain and buy - if you get a couple from a cage-egg farm where they sell off the girls after their first year of intense production they sometimes cost a mere $2. You’ll be giving them a whole new life and they will still repay you with beautiful, fresh eggs.