Did you know that it takes 21 days for a fertilised chook egg to hatch? That the domestic chook/variants of that we have today all originated from the Red Jungle Fowl or Gallus gallus and the Latin name for the domestic chook is Gallus domesticus? How about that a castrated male chicken is called a capon?
Given the Gold Coast City Council has just approved a new by-law allowing up to 4 chooks on areas of 600 sq metres, this is an ideal time to actually get down and dirty and learn the basics of chooks in an urban setting. It is not as simple as just letting them loose to tear up your garden.
You can all sorts of fascinating though practical information about chooks, chickens and eggs in a workshop with Peter Cutajar on Saturday 8 September at 0900 at 270 Ferry Road Southport. Pete, along with John Sierakoski are our resident ‘chook whisperers’. 270 is the headquarters of Gold Coast Permaculture and where the Gold Coast Permaculture Urban Farm Demonstration Project is based. We will be expanding out to the Carrara Markets starting our construction phase by the end of August.
The GCP Duck Flock
At 270 Ferry Road, we ‘farm’ chickens and a couple of ducks for internal consumption (of the eggs) as well as grow the most delicious vegetables on the Gold Coast. Might be a stretch, but we reckon you would be hard pressed to obtain better tasting vegies anywhere. In addition to vegies, we have Dan the Herb Man and his herb nursery. Dan grows a wide variety of culinary and medicinal herbs for sale as well as takes orders for vegetable seedlings at prices that are unbeatable even at Bunnings. So, if you rock on down to Bunnings for a punnet of seedlings and want the cheapest price less 10% you had better check out Dan first.
Dan The Herb Man With Just a Few of His Hundreds of Herbs
Mind you, once you meet Dan, you will never ever go to Bunnings for seedlings again. Not only is he a great nursery man and budding master gardener, Dan is a great person as well. He is just starting up his own micro-business at 270 after being unemployed for far too long. We would love for you to give him your support. Product satisfaction and lots of great information is guaranteed. We are very confident that he has found his calling at 270 and wish him all the best in his nursery business.
I digress! This is about chooks after all. However, just to let you know, Dan the Herb Man is worth the digression.
Chooks! Yes, Pete is a fountain of chook knowledge and I understand that he will be joined by Min Feng Yuan who, during the discussion/workshop, will briefly inform you as to the nutritious goodness of farm fresh free range eggs. We are about to expand our chook population out to the Carrara Markets and there Pete will be running a flock on behalf of the GCP Chook Club. A few lucky individuals will be able to join the club and on their behalf, Pete and the GCP crew will manage some 30 odd chooks with a view to supplying eggs to the club members each week.
So, if you want to know more about raising and keeping chooks and practical information including common health issues affecting chooks such as Manson’s Worm, the nasty that caused our lovely chicken Felicity to go blind in one eye, come to 270 Ferry Road at 0900 on Saturday 8 September. The cost for this workshop is $20 with concessions for pensioners and the unwaged.