I know it is really impractical, I know we go away and go out too often and haven’t nearby friends who could look after them if we’re not here, and I know chickens aren’t as easy as you might imagine, and I know they make a lot of noise which might be an annoyance to the neighbours (although there are three neighbours on one side of us, one neighbour on the other, and three houses at the back of us who all have dogs which bark pretty much non-stop and are exceedingly annoying) and I know they make a mess of the garden and we haven’t really enough room to have a big enough coop so we would have to shift it about because they rip up the ground, I know all this, and I know it’s only a dream, like having a pet pig, or having a goat, but I really would like to have chickens!
I know they are not tame or domesticated in the way a dog or a cat or even a rat might be (we had adorable pet rats, fancy rats) and I know they can peck you – one pecked my son when he was a bout two… oh he was upset, oh how he cried! And I know they can be naughty, when my sister and I were little we stayed on a farm in a gypsy caravan and we were eating our breakfast and a chicken stole my sister’s fried bread… so I know they are not like actual pets, but they are farm creatures who should be on a farm… But I would still like to have chickens!
Lois Elsden 
Chickens are a lot of work…as you say Lois. Although we live in the outer Sydney environs, a few people in the area keep chickens (called chooks). They are only reasonably noisy i think but do atract foxes (which I like!!) and are a nuisance when owners are away…even for a couple of days.
Why don’t you give it a go by keeping those small bantam chickens?
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I really am tempted but think I’ll content myself with taking photos of them for the time being, while I research about what they actually need… and how feasible it is in a back garden… I also have to persuade my husband!
My god-parents went to Australia to have a chicken farm in the 60’s, sadly neither knew anything about chickens, and couldn’t face killing them… they returned to the UK…!!
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We wouldn’t keep them in a fit either…and in any case, they don’t sit well with Sydney’s nearly 5 million people! However, the environmental movement is popular and really quite strong here and I think that may be the stimulus for such endeavours. The problem with Australia (if it is a problem really) is that most people live in large cities, large numbers live in sizable towns and few live in rural areas….so keeping chickens and similar pastimes are under a bit of sufferenec I think.
I think your god-parents may have been quite rural to have a farm.
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Me too – and would love to have a pet dog or cat too…but all are impractical so like you, I just enjoy the thought and ten let it go 🙂
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All critters are impractical!!!
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An old friend of mine grew up on a farm and in the winter his father left home for a few months to work in the woods. One day his mother told him to get a chicken for supper. He cornered one and whacked it on the head with a stick and brought it in for his mother to pluck. After plucking all the feathers off she went to chop off it’s but to her surprise the bird got up and started walking about as he was only knocked out. She felt so sorry for it that she knitted it a little turtle neck sweater to wear all winter and it won a blue ribbon at the county fair. True story!
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Awww, that is so sweet! I can just imagine it! Was he called Lucky after that?
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Should have been chop off it’s head.Sorry was laughing too hard.
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I got it!
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Got a better story of a three legged chicken if you care to hear.
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I have to hear the story of the three legged chicken, David!
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A few years ago a friend of mine was taking his wife and kids to the lake for a swim when he spotted an animal running down the road ahead of him. He sped up the car to see what it was and noticed that it was a chicken with three legs going like a bat out of hell. He pulled over when he noticed a farmer leaning on his fence at the side of the road and told him about the chicken. The farmer explained it was one of his that he had bred because there was just him and his wife and one son and they all liked drumsticks, ergo the three legged chicken. Do they taste like regular chickens? My friend asked. To which the farmer replied ( I don’t know cause there so fast I haven’t been able to catch one)
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That is such a great image!!! Great story!!!
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