Hire a chook
Introducing Aubrey “scales” Ardern, Mustafa Kemal Atachicken, Lil’ Jez Jnr, and Isambard Kingdom “Stomps” Brunell. Four professional chicks for hire. Pecking bugs. Scratching weeds. Bork bork bork.
What the heck is this all about?
Well, friends, maybe you have an absolute wasteland of a garden. What should you do? Maybe you can make chickens do the hard work for you.
Everyone has joked about setting your garden on fire or spraying toxic chemicals. Maybe your dodgy uncle Keith knows a guy who puts wire in his line trimmer and douses everything in diesel afterwards. You’ve held off these insane methods for good reason. Now try our insane method.
We introduce an eco friendly, cheap, low effort solution to all of your overgrown problems: chickens. Egg producing, weed eating, spider consuming chickens. They will leave nothing in their wake, except an egg or two.
What do chickens do?
Left for long enough, chickens will destroy and leave your patch of land bare. Left for a little while, they will stop you from needing to weedeat your section, and will keep scratching up small weed trees. Left in a vege bed, in a controlled setting, they will turn over and poop all through your soil, leaving it fertilised and bare. You get the picture!
Chickens will eat:
Oxalis bulbs
Tradescantia (“wandering dew”)
Grass, most weeds, pretty much anything in their wake
Spiders, larvae. Grass grub (but the grass will be an absolute mess after).
Chickens will scratch up and expose:
Blackberry roots
Convolvulous roots
Well… all roots!
Wellington-local, organic, happy eggs
Ok, ok, ok. How does this work?
A chicken wrangler will set up everything the chickens need for an enjoyable day of hard work (access to water, shade, laying boxes). They will leave the (rather cute, GPS tracked) chickens to do their thing.
At the end of the chicken’s visit, the wrangler will take everything away, chickens included. You will have cleared land, yay!
Current rates
Vege bed cleanup: this depends on your location and the area you would like cleared. Anticipate $50-100. This service is preferably performed on the weekend.
$140 per day (8am-5pm) for two chickens in a maximum fence area of 21m2. $190 per day for four chickens at a time by arrangement.
$70/day for additional days, if we are able to leave the fencing up overnight (the chickens go home every night and return in the morning).
Travel costs added if you live outside of Wellington City. We service the entire Wellington region.
Quickfire Q&A
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Yes! We can bring the chickens to you as a part of your usual visit. We just need you to cover any additional time/expenses (set up, pack down, taking them home afterwards).
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You can keep any eggs they lay while at your property. We bring their nesting boxes, so they feel safe and are able to carry out their usual routine, so eggs won’t be hidden in the garden.
We do not guarantee that they will lay for you but they are daily layers. We do not usually have spare eggs for sale but you are welcome to check. -
Yes, of course. It will slow down anything else you have hired them to do. Please don’t feed them kitchen scraps or anything else without checking first. Lots of things can hurt a chicken’s tummy.
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These chickens are very well looked after and well suited for this work. We will only visit if this helps them to live their best life (and for you to live yours!). They are rescue chickens; we do not contribute to chicken breeding, egg or meat industries. If you have had chickens before, you may have other specific questions, ask away!
Aubrey fact: She is nicknamed Scales because when we got her, she had terrible scaley leg mite. Don’t worry; Aubrey is now healthy and happy, and an absolute professional!