Nutritionist Arabella Forge shows how to grow your own, buy local, waste nothing and eat well in her book Frugavore. She also has the low-down on keeping chooks, Frugavorestyle.I would love to see a day when every household with its own backyard has a few chickens running loose, every apartment block has its own henhouse and every farm has fresh eggs available for its neighbours. Chickens can play an important role in your garden’s ecosystem: plants thrive when fertilized by chook droppings. Hens also provide excellent eggs and meat and are easy-to handle pets, the perfect choice for inner-city dwellers.
But you don’t have room? Don’t think you could give them a good life? Well, think again. Consider the life of a commercially farmed chicken. They are given unnatural feed, little room to run around and a shortened lifespan. I am sure any chook would prefer even a small backyard with fresh food and room to move to a lifetime in a small metal cage under UV lights. What’s more, chooks are gorgeous and hilarious creatures that will add character to any backyard or vegie patch.