The good life grew into a brilliant story
A bad tempered and headstrong chicken takes a star role in a Stirling businesswoman’s first book.
Josine Atsma, who owns Stirling Health Food Store, in Dumbarton Road, has written ‘The Good, The Bad and The Hooligan’ a compilation of her blogs about her ecological and self-sufficient lifestyle in Glendevon.
The book offers an insight into organic gardening and recipes, as well as rearing chickens, one of whom is an unruly hen dubbed ‘The Hooligan.’
Josine, who took over Stirling Health Food Store in April, 2011, started writing her blogs the following year.
She explained: “It began as a fun, informal ending to the shop’s newsletter but after a few months it also featured the story of ‘The Hooligan.’
“The book is written in a fun and uncomplicated way and I hope it will bring a smile to someone’s face.”
‘The Hooligan’ who passed away in 2016 was one of five rescue chickens Josine and husband Jan-Pieter got from the British Hen Welfare Trust in October, 2013.
Josine said: “When the chickens arrived they were around one and a half years old. They only had half their feathers and looked a bit worse for wear.
“But they soon started behaving like real chickens and the true nature of ‘The Hooligan’ started showing too. She was the leader of the group and at first was called ‘the runaway chicken’ but when she started trashing the coop and ‘shouting’ at us she was soon renamed ‘The Hooligan.’
“If we left her in her run for too long, she would literally try and knock through the fence and she was that loud that a simple conversation with our neighbour wasn’t possible.
“She got into all sorts of trouble. That’s why she became ‘Stirling’s most famous chicken.’”
Josine and Jan-Pieter, who are from the Dutch city of Amersfoort, 30 miles east of Amsterdam, moved to Scotland in 2006 in search of a simpler lifestyle.
Josine had been a manager in a city supermarket and JanPieter an IT officer with the council. They have lived in Glendevon since 2010.
Josine added: “I hope to inspire people to grow their own, no matter how small the scale, or to think about how to improve their garden to benefit wildlife. Maybe someone will be inspired to rescue some chickens too.”