Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Our chooks


So the new new chickens 'chooks' are all laying now and very happy scratching around the backyard, bottom of the property and in the little creek.

Some chook lingo:
A baby is called a chicken or chick.
A male under 12 months is called a cockerel.
A female under 12 months is a called pullet.
A male over 12 months is called a rooster or a cock.
A female over 12 months is called a hen.
Poultry is the word to describe domestic birds such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys as a group.
The word 'chook' is Australian & New Zealand slang for chicken!
A bantam is a very small chicken that produces smaller eggs.

4 comments:

Jeph said...

Is this the first time you've had chickens? We're looking to get a house with some land and I really hope to do so somewhere that I can try having a few chickens. No roosters - just laying hens. And I don't think I want to go with the smaller bantams since I figure standard eggs are easier to work with.

Oh, and bees. I also think it'd be cool to have a bee hive or two.

So how much work has getting started up with chooks been?

Alexander said...

Jeph, We have had chickens for about 3 years now, but got a few more just recently after one died - Sharon - and another went missing - Shirley - we think in a foxes mouth, but she could have just gone on a world trip and may turn up in a month or so.

They say its best to have an odd number, so we have 5 and may get more in the future. 3 is a good start I think. You learn as you go.

As for Rosters, where not keen on eating fertilized eggs and don't want baby roosters, as we don't eat meat and would have to keep them all to keep them safe.

Jeph said...

Plus I've heard roosters can be pretty mean...

Alexander said...

Chickens can be quite mean too, we one had one that kept attacking me every time I came down the back.... She's the chook that went missing... no I had nothing to do with it, i was considered as a suspect but.