We finally got chickens! New Zealand's egg situation and permaculture

2025.10.04table of contentsIndex

I’m Mariko, a permaculturalist, sharing my thoughts on “playing, living, working and studying” from Whanganui, New Zealand!

Chickens are a symbol of permaculture

Keeping chickens is a symbol of permaculture living.
We get fresh eggs, and their droppings fertilize our garden, helping our vegetables grow better.
Our garden is sandy, so the soil is always in need of improvement, so chicken droppings are a treasure trove for me.

Two years ago, at my request, my husband built a chicken coop using recycled materials. All that was left was to put the chickens in. But
then he suddenly decided to stay in Japan for a year. We weren’t able to bring in any chickens. Now the coop is completely overgrown with weeds.

But the thought that “I want to raise chickens someday!” never went away.

New Zealand egg prices soar!

In New Zealand, the traditional caged environment will be replaced by free-range environment in 2023.

As a result, egg prices skyrocketed.

1 piece = about 100 yen, 12-pack = 800-1000 yen

It is not uncommon for this to happen.

In our household of four, we share three of them among the four of us, which is very economical.
I began to seriously consider, “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just raise chickens?”

Seize the moment!

It’s not uncommon for families to keep chickens in New Zealand, but most of the places that sell them are far away.
It’s a hassle to travel two hours to buy them. And more than anything, I’m worried about the stress that the chickens must be under as they’re being rocked around in the back of the truck.

Then, while scrolling through Facebook, I came across a post that said “Chickens for sale.” And it was in Whanganui.

“This is my chance!” I thought to myself and quickly sent a message.

My motto is, if you hesitate at times like this, you’ll miss out!
First, give it a try and solve any problems that arise.

It’s never be a perfect.

It was raining outside… I asked my husband if he could get the truck out, but
he calmly replied, “Are you ready for the chickens?”

“You can never be perfectly prepared! You can think about it after you get the trouble!” I said.

Also, if you try raising chickens and find them difficult, you can give them to someone else.
(You can even eat them if you like.)

The problem is, “How do I transport them?” Even though it’s close to my house, it’s only about a 15-minute drive.
Even so, it’s just stressful for the chickens.

Also, it’s best to keep chickens in even numbers, so I’d like to have four.
But an empty banana box wouldn’t fit…

“I wonder if there’s anything…”

I wandered around looking for it and…there it was!

Kiero may works!It’s just the right size to fit about four chickens.
I messaged the chicken owner and he said it was OK, so I went!Oout

Ouch, the rain has started more heavily…

My first encounter with chickens

Happy chicken at the farm

The chickens live freely on the spacious farm. There are also sheep (apparently they are for food).
The roosters are impressive! New Zealand chickens are 1.5 times larger than Japanese chickens, I think?

I imagine it must be quite unsettling for them to move from this environment to our tiny cages.

When I got home and opened the lid of the Kiero in the back of the car…

The chickens looked anxious…Even chickens have facial expressions. They had just arrived and looked a little nervous.

When you actually hold it, it’s fluffy and warm. It’s just as soft as a human baby.

The various personalities of chickens

I threw the chickens into our cage and headed back to the supermarket.
The store was about to close! I needed to buy some food before then.

That’s right. In New Zealand supermarkets, they sell chicken food as well as dog and cat food.

There it was, the last bag! How lucky I was today!

Let’s try feeding it right away.
Then I realised their characters.

White one → First to start eating. Must be the leader type.
Two brown chicks, follow them and eat together
Black one → She looks strong, but she just watches from afar until the end

It’s raining today and it’s already dinnertime, so I wasn’t able to observe much.

For now, chickens are said to be weak to heat but strong in cold and like shade , so they should be fine even on slightly chilly nights.

My Permaculture Life begins.

I was just about to start writing a permaculture blog then Chickens are came up.
It is meaningful to me. From now on, I would like to record my life with chickens little by little and share information about the cycle of our compost and my permaculture life!