A silver spangled hamburg chook being trained using a handful of chook food.
Build your garden

How to train your chickens

Chooks are smarter than many people realise. Jessamy Miller shares practical techniques to train your flock, improving handling, behaviour and everyday enjoyment.

A girl hand-feeding two black hens inside a secure chicken run
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Poultry protection: how to secure your henhouse

Chooks do a lot for us, providing eggs, manure and garden help, but they’re vulnerable to predators. Jessamy Miller shows how to lock up the coop, outsmart common pests, and keep your hens calm, safe and thriving.

Chooks in a backyard, eating greens from a raised garden bed.
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How to prepare for bird flu

Bird flu is a highly infectious virus that can harm backyard poultry. Not yet in Australia, it's still important to be aware of its impact.

Elaine Janes with her rooster Hugo.
Organic life

A life filled with the joy of chooks

Celebrity chook lady Elaine Janes has a very special connection with her feathered friends, it all starts with a firm hold.

Two chooks eating seeds scattered n their henhouse.
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Jessamy Miller’s special warming mash recipe for chooks

Try this recipe for warming chook mash from our chook expert. It will help keep your chooks happy and healthy.

Remove any wet or clumped patches of litter on floors and in nest boxes with fresh material to keep odour free.
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Keeping your henhouse tidy

When the hot weather starts to wane, it's a good time to set your chooks up for a safe, healthy and cosy cool season.

Dugald Jellie builds henhouses for schools using recycled material.
Organic life

Introducing master henhouse builder, Dugald Jellie

Everything Dugald Jellie creates, from cubbies to fences to sheds, is made by hand using recycled materials saved from landfill.

A henhouse with a number of chooks scratching in a sandbox. One chook, a barnevelder, is sitting on the edge of the sandbox.
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How to maximise your hens’ egg production with a balanced diet

If you are dreaming of an achievable and rewarding way to supply some of your own food, you can’t go past keeping laying hens, such as the barnevelder.

How to hold a hen
Bees, poultry & livestock

How to hold a chook

There are all sorts of reasons you may need to hold your hens, such as checking for parasites; Jessamy Miller explains how do it safely for your chooks and you.

Clear your yard of any possible hazards for chicks.
Bees, poultry & livestock

Raising chicks naturally

While the mother hen has the lead role in the chicken-raising show, Jessamy Millers says there are steps owners can take to ensure chicks are robust and healthy.

Chooks provide much more than fresh eggs and fertiliser.
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Feathered friends

Chooks provide many things from fresh eggs to fertiliser for your garden, and they can even become feathered friends to the family.

Araucana lay unusual green eggs.
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Choosing a chook house

Life is much richer in this Melbourne household with a few chooks added to the mix – here's some tips to help make a home for chickens so everyone is happy.