Chookery Nook Poultry Farm in Karrinyup

The story of Chookery Nook

 Helen Priestley and Dorothy Snow were lifelong friends. They became partners in a poultry farm located on old North Beach Road called Chookery Nook. It was a three acre property, next to Hodder farm (the limestone house), on the other side of the road from the Karrinyup Golf Club, just opposite the front gates. When they first started out, they had to have very high fences as the chooks roamed freely. The shelter for the chooks was made from 44 gallon drums, hammered flat, then attached together to make a roof. It was attached with rivets and was a difficult job.

Eggs were sent to England to help with food shortages after the war. They had to feed the chooks green food, lucerne, to make the yolks nice and yellow. The lucerne was harvested with a sickle (scythe) every day. The feed shed was also made from 44 gallon drums and had a concrete floor to keep the rats out. The eggs were sorted by hand, washed and rubbed with ‘keep egg’ to seal it for the journey to England. The eggs were placed in cardboard trays.

Before the house was built, they lived in an old army tent. Dorothy and Helen had both served in the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force during WW2. They cooked for a long time using a camp stove and eventually got a Metters stove that they put in the feed shed. They were happy to be able to heat water and cook with more than one pot at a time. A chimney was put up outside the feed shed. This was against the by laws which got them into trouble with the Perth Road Board. Mr Wilkie was the President of the Poultry Board and admired what they were doing. They also had many friends from the Royal Air Force. They helped pay the fine, Dorothy and Helen had received a criminal record.

Eventually they built a house, obtaining a building license and an allocation of asbestos. It was hard to obtain scheme water unless you had a house, and you couldn’t get a house unless you had scheme water. An article was written in the 1940’s about the challenges Dorothy and Helen faced on their property. Helen and Dorothy owned the farm until 1956. Snowy became seriously ill and had to have major surgery. The trade of eggs to England had ceased and the farm was not large enough to be viable in the local market.

They decided to start a mobile library service, bought a van and had it fitted with shelves, which they would drive around the district hiring books for a small fee to make a living. The library service lasted for about three years. It was the first mobile library in Western Australia, before public libraries and television existed.

Dorothy and Helen eventually moved to South Perth.

Recollection from Diana Bailey – whose Aunt was Helen Priestley.