Pets are usually kept as people's close friends and companions. But in some communities around France, pet chickens have to work for their owners' affection, helping to reduce food waste and laying the odd egg every now and then.
Eric and his daughter Lina are making dinner -- but their new guests in the garden will eat first.
Stale bread and cucumber peelings that would have gone to the trash two weeks ago make a nice meal for Stella and Clara, a pair of birds who are changing the way that this suburban family manages its trash.
"It forces us to do something we're not used to. Up until now since we lived in apartments we tended to throw away the peelings without thinking about it. Now we put them aside and we think, 'hey, these could have another use'," Eric said.
The Briffaut family is one of about 200 local families who signed up through their neighborhood association to adopt a pair of chickens, following in the footsteps of a dozen or so communities around France.
"Hello! We're here to pick up our chickens.""Ok, if you could just sign this contract please."
In the contract, new owners attest that they have a yard, a coop, and the intention to care for the chickens. For the uninitiated, pickup is a also good occasion to ask any pressing questions.
"If we take them on vacation, it is a problem for them to change surroundings?""If they have a space with everything they need on arrival -- a calm place to lay, a perch, food and water, it shouldn't be a problem."
And once the chickens are home, figuring out what to do with leftovers shouldn't be a problem either.
"A chicken will eat up to 150 kilos of scraps each year. So with this operation with 200 families participating each with its own pair of chickens, the community is hoping to recycle 60 tons of waste," said Ghislain Journe, founder of Farmili.
The best part: all the birds are laying hens, which means they'll provide the occasional omelete for breakfast -- though some patience may be needed.
After ten days and counting, the Briffaut family is still waiting for their first egg.
