How the humble backyard chook is helping us through the pandemic

Plucking hell, it sure was difficult to find a backyard chook to purchase at the start of the pandemic.

More popular than toilet paper, this arguably underrated member of the poultry family was suddenly experiencing a very, very purple patch as buyers turned out in their droves to secure a backyard chook or three.

But was it all worth it? About six months in, have the feathered friends delivered both the eggs and the distraction their new owners were hoping for? Or has there been trouble in the henhouse? 

“When you tell people ‘I got chooks through the pandemic’, everyone was like that’s just a fad, and you’ll get over it and get rid of the chooks,” says Maquel Brandimarti.

She and her partner Elliot Scanes bought two Silkie chickens, Bootsie and Queenie, who now rule the roost in their Sydney backyard.

“One’s black, one’s white,” says Brandimarti. “Bootsie, she’s the bossy boots, so that’s why we call her that. She can be a little bit mean to the other one Queenie, so they’re classic sisters.”

The first thing on the to-do list for their new fluffy friends was a much-needed haircut so they could actually see. And the love hasn’t stopped since. 

Although whether their Alexandria neighbours share the love for their occasionally noisy chooks is still up in the air. 

“I read a book on chickens and they said tell your neighbours before you get them. But we didn’t tell them, we just got them,” chuckles Brandimarti. “They can totally tell we’ve got chickens.”

However she’s started sharing the spoils by donating a few eggs to her neighbours. “I think I’m keeping them happy, sharing the love.”

While it’s been mostly positive, Brandimarti says there have been a few challenges. Firstly, Bootsie and Queenie really like destroying things, including their herb garden. 

The chooks have also made it a little harder to get away for weekends, says Brandimarti. Like any good mother, she worries about them when she’s not there. 

In Lara, Victoria, Melanie Bruce and her young family welcomed bantam chickens Betsy and Sadie into the fold at the start of the pandemic.

Bruce says they’d often thought about having chooks, and being stuck at home suddenly meant there was time to follow through on the plan.

She thought the chooks would be an excellent way of trying out some permaculture concepts in their backyard.

Perhaps more importantly, Bruce refers to their new family members as “chicken therapy”.

She says working on the chook house helped maintain her sanity. 

“The kids were home schooling, and my husband was working from home,” says Bruce. “So it gave me something to duck away and work on for an hour and take my mind off the state of the world.”

Once set up, the chooks have been easy to look after, she says. A deep litter system means very little maintenance. 

The only real downside? A cat that crept in and frightened the daylights out of one of her chooks – prompting Bruce to spend more than she expected on an automatic door for the henhouse.

“They’re probably the most expensive free eggs you’ll ever have,” she says.

“But I invested in an automatic door so that if we do go out at night or something happens, the door will close and they’ll be safe at night. It’s handy in the morning at sunrise too, because otherwise they’re carrying on at quarter to six wanting to be let out.”

Bruce says her three kids love the chooks – and another two that have since joined the flock – as do she and her husband Nick Hyder. “We enjoy just sitting out there actually, just having a cup of tea and watch the chickens interacting.”

Dr Phil Sacks, of Bird Vet Melbourne, says chooks make “wonderful” pets. However, there’s one particular situation where buyer’s regret can become an issue.  

“The problem is if you buy chicks and they end up being roosters, that’s a problem because it’s very difficult to get rid of them.” (One family Domain spoke to, on realising their hen was in fact a rooster, turned it into dinner.)

Fox attacks can also be a common problem, which is where a fox-proof coop, or one with an automatic door, comes into play. Dr Sacks says owning a dog – even a small one – will mostly also keep the foxes away.

Back in Sydney, Brandimarti has zero regrets. “They’re a part of the family; we couldn’t live without them now if we didn’t have them. It would be too quiet.”