How to Get Chickens: The Australian Starter Guide
From empty backyard to first egg in six weeks, in the right order.
Backyard chickens are the easiest livestock in Australia: ten minutes a day, eggs most mornings, and pest control thrown in. Here is the sequence that avoids the classic first-timer mistakes.
The right order
- Check your council rules first. Most allow 4-10 hens, no roosters. The numbers and the law here.
- Coop before chooks. Buy or build with the run attached and predator-proofing done BEFORE birds arrive: fox-proofing at 11pm with a torch is a rite of passage nobody enjoys. Coop guide here.
- Choose breeds for your goals. Maximum eggs? ISA Browns. Family pets? Silkies or Orpingtons. Hot climate? Leghorns. All 18 compared, or use the two-tap picker.
- Buy point-of-lay pullets (16-20 weeks old, $25-60 commercial, $40-120 heritage) from a produce store or breeder. They start laying within a month, skipping the fragile chick stage entirely.
- Set up feed properly: layer pellets in a covered feeder, shell grit on the side, clean water in shade. The feeding guide covers the 90/10 rule.
- First fortnight: keep them in the coop and run so they imprint on home, then free-range on your schedule. They will put themselves to bed at dusk forever after; your only job is shutting the door.
What it costs
- Coop and run (kit, reinforced): $300-800, or walk-in: $500-1,500
- 3-4 point-of-lay pullets: $75-250
- Feeder, drinker, first feed bags: $100-150
- Realistic start: $475-1,200. Against $300-700 a year of eggs at current prices, plus free fertiliser and pest control, the flock pays the setup back inside two years.
The first-six-weeks checklist
- Daily: open up, check water and feed, collect eggs, lock up at dusk (or fit an auto door).
- Weekly: top up grit, skim the droppings board into the compost, check everyone walks and pecks normally.
- By week six: first eggs from point-of-lay birds. Small at first, full-size within weeks.
Track the flock from day one. The Planting Season app logs each hen, counts eggs, works out feed costs and tells you whether the girls are paying their way. Free to start.
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