Woodside Primary teacher’s chook lead harnesses online market
We’re always asking why the chicken crossed the road but no one ever stops to wonder how. One Adelaide Hills teacher did though and it’s led to global attention.
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Why did the chicken cross the road? It had no choice!
It’s a joke Wendy Nicholson has been telling people for almost 20 years, starting when she co-created the world’s first chicken lead and harness.
The former Woodside Primary School teacher designed a velcro-strap lead with her students in 2001, as part of a classroom project aimed at containing pet chooks.
“Naturally, all the students wanted to do was to take their chickens out to play but of course, chickens being chickens, they wouldn’t stay close,” Ms Nicholson said.
“So we were trying to think of ways to contain them and one student suggested a dog lead, but that wouldn’t have worked, so we came up with the idea to create a chicken lead and harness.
“It took a while to get it right, but in the end we settled on a model where a strap wraps around the back, behind the wings and in front of the legs.
“All the students ended up with their own leads and it became a thing seeing them walking around their chicken on a lead.”
Unsurprisingly, the unique classroom project caught the attention of national media outlets, who were quick to report on the junior entrepreneurship.
This led to students creating harnesses for chook lovers all over Australia, at a price of $5 – enough to cover production costs.
Today, the invention has taken the pet world by storm, with chicken harnesses a popular sales item on Amazon.
The product now sells for anywhere between $20 and $45 and can also be adjusted to fit ducks.
Unfortunately for the local inventors, their design was never patented – meaning neither Ms Nicholson or her students own copyrights.
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“I did think about putting a patent on it for a while but because there were so many students involved, I didn’t want to take all the credit,” Ms Nicholson said.
Sandersons grain and fodder store owner Glen Threapleton said he had never heard of chook harnesses until this week but was not surprised by people wanting to connect with their feathery friends.
With his business experiencing a major boom in chicken sales – his store alone has sold close to 1000 chooks in just 10 weeks – Mr Threapleton said stocking leads and harnesses could be considered on future sales agendas.
“It’s a cool idea,” he said. “I mean, customers bring their dogs all the time so they might as well bring their chooks.
“They are definitely an awesome pet to have, easy to care for and don’t really cost much.
“So as people are looking for something to fill their time, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we saw people walking them up and down the street very soon.”
