Chickens cross state borders for families lining up to start their own chook farm

ABC NEWS (Australia)

In some lighter news out of the NT today almost 2000 chickens have crossed the road or in this case. The border as the Territory continues the scramble to meet local demand for eggs. Dozens of families lined up to start their own backyard chook farms to make sure eggs will never be in short supply.

Transcript

00:00It's been a marathon road trip for these chooks.

00:05They're here to help crack the Territory's egg shortage, which has sent prices sky-high

00:10and at times left shelves empty.

00:13So yeah, we've carted 1,900 hens this year up to the Territory, stopping along the way,

00:20but mostly it's all for Darwin.

00:22Travelling more than 3,000 kilometres from the bottom of the country to the top end,

00:26where there's no local hatchery, they'll fill the soaring demand for backyard chooks

00:31and they're ready to roost in their new homes.

00:34Eggs is too expensive now, so we love eggs.

00:38When we had to buy eggs, it was weird. It was very hard to get eggs.

00:42So it's good to have them.

00:45One chicken can lay around 300 eggs a year, so even a small backyard flock

00:51can keep a family fed and help take the pressure off supermarket shelves.

00:56Darren Letton has brought a truckload of chooks here annually for five years.

01:01But when thousands were killed off during last year's bird flu outbreak,

01:05he noticed more and more people wanting to get hold of some friendly birds.

01:09Today, dozens of families stopping by to pick up their new pets,

01:13looking forward to a constant supply of eggs.

01:16Just not having to fight other people at the shop to get more.

01:19These are bred to lay a lot of eggs, you know, and this is what the egg farms use.

01:24The people are just so appreciative up here, you know.

01:27I think it's a thing. People love having chickens.

01:30Laying the way for a clucky population boost.

01:33All right.

01:34All right.

01:35Let's get started.

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