Backyard chooks popular during COVID-19 lockdown, but where do they come from?

When supermarkets started having egg shortages earlier this year in the lead-up to COVID-19 lockdowns, people turned to buying their own chickens to raise in backyards.

But ready-to-lay, healthy hens do not grow on trees.

So where did they come from?

Caroline and Greg Sandral from Sunnyside, near Mackay, grow chooks from day-old chicks, keeping them healthy and happy before selling them as point-of-lay hens to the wider public right across Queensland.

“COVID caught us on the hop a little,” Mr Sandral said.