When the Heard family first took delivery of six chooks, having them as indoor pets wasn’t part of their thinking. However, “the girls” – as Gregor, Kate and their three sons call them – had other ideas.

To anyone running through the names of the Robertson-Morton family’s feathered friends, their owners’ affection for the flock is clear. “There’s Blackie, Cheeky, Nicey, Cutie, Stripey, Medium and Lady Gaga,”

As the days are getting longer, there is change going on in the brain of every chook kept in backyards across the country. Their brains are telling their bodies to restart or ramp up egg production after a slow-down over the coldest period of winter.

During Barastoc National Chook Health Week, Barastoc Poultry will post a #Poultryponders quiz question to the Barastoc Poultry Facebook page. People can try to answer the question by commenting on the post.

Feathered and furred animals aren’t always the closest of backyard friends, especially if forced to share a confined living space. At Tatum Hills Farm, however, chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits and ducks happily coexist in a single predator-proof pen.