Free Range Hens
The Hazelnut Orchard used to be a huge poultry playground. Every day my hens (and their bossy rooster) would scratch and forage for grubs in the orchard paddock, following the sun.
Chooks in the Orchard
Early mornings would see them over by the long drive to the haybarn, then by the afternoon I'd find them relaxing by the water tank. Their chicken run led into the orchard, and the way was always open.
Chook Company
I fondly remember weeding around the newly planted orchard roses, and having very attentive chook company. The hens were fun, staring underneath my hands looking for anything that wriggled. Rooster could be a bit alarming when he came too close or got too noisy. They weren't allowed to range through any other garden areas - I'd constructed a netting fence along the hedge-line to keep them out.
Chooks in the Orchard
The days of real live poultry are long gone - now a random collection of hen and rooster statues lurk in an Agapanthus patch near the old hen house, a quirky reminder. But the orchard has become home to a gang of noisy pukekos - New Zealand swamp hens.