Time to Roam Magazine Issue 7 - February/March 2014 | Page 12

| upfront news Golden Girls living it up in the Millard Mansion Life has taken a turn for the better for a brood of 50 battery hens who’ve swapped their caged house of horror for a classic Millard caravan. The chooks are now spending their golden days roaming free in the pastures of the lush Rollands Plains, complete with 24/7 protection in the form of a trusty Miramar sheep dog called Zuess. It sounds like the makings of Disney movie, but in this case it’s a real life story. The plot was devised by farmer Sheila Carroll who runs a small mixed farm with a menagerie of animals and a comfy B&B in the hinterland of Port Macquarie. The disused 1970s Millard was a cheaper alternative than specially built free caravans now on the market which are designed to allow organic farmers to move the hens around and fertilise the fields as they go. Sheila was able to liberate the “used” cage hens for a dollar each. “The girls arrived packed in boxes which they’d Sheila Carroll, Zuess and the girls been literally thrown into all on top of each other. Three of them died on the way. They had no feathers, they couldn’t walk, they couldn’t do anything. “We locked them inside the caravan for a week, feeding them, talking to them and putting them on their perches. They kept falling off at first because they had no strength in their legs and no real idea what perches were for. “Zuess was in the caravan with them the whole time, he sleeps up front and the girls sleep down the back.” Sheila says after about a week locked up, the chooks natural instincts began to kick in and they were gradually let out to roam the paddocks by day, returning to the van to lay their eggs and sleep at night. A tally board on the wall of the Millard shows most are now laying and Shiela sells the eggs at a roadside stall by her front gate. NING, ING ALL BOATING, CARAVAN CALL RV & 4WD ENTHUSIASTS! Get your hands on the all new 2014 Road Tech Marine catalogue. 260 COLOUR PAGES & OVER 4,200 PRODUCTS HUGE RANGE OF PARTS AND ACCESSORIES! TECHNICAL TIPS & ADVICE Please call, fax, email or go online to get your FREE copy. What’s INSIDE? • Portable Appliances • Caravan Hardware • Towing & Trailer Hardw are • Communications & Elec trical • Lighting & Torches • Plumbing Hardware • Marine Hardware • Power and Solar Equ ipment • Cleaning & Maintenan ce NAME: ADDRESS: EMAIL: Send to: Road Tech Marine Catalogue PO Box 7172, Silverwater DC, NSW, 1811 Email: [email protected] Fax: [phone] www.roadtechmarine.com.au 12 timetoroam.com.au ph: 1300 964 264