Livin' in a cardboard box

Mrs Nomatchaka stopped by the office on Friday, having spent most of the day in Mthatha picking up some chicklets. She raises them and sells them, and this time had bought 100 white ones and 100 red ones to share with a friend.

Cut to the chase: baby chickens are cute in large enough numbers.

Two hundred chickens

The red ones are apparently just raised for meat whilst the white ones can be laying hens. Because they were splitting them between two people, there was a little sorting to be done (on the porch outside our office, naturally).

Sorting chickens for fun and profit

For those of you thinking of starting your own chicken-rearing operation in the Eastern Cape, here’s some quick facts:

• 100 chickens cost R280 (about $28)
• You can sell a fully grown chicken for R40-R50
• Around 95% of the birds will make it to adulthood, barring massive infection which can wipe you out.
• They take about six weeks to rear if you give them enough food, longer if you just let them scratch for their own food.
• Full grown chickens are pretty ugly and smell bad.
• Cats can be friends with chickens.