Six years later, the back garden of her Wakari home hosts 22 hens and 10 chickens.
"It's grown," she said of her hobby.
So has Dr Houstoun's interest in showing birds, and she plans to enter six in the Dunedin Poultry Pigeon and Cage Bird Club show being held at Forrester Park, Northeast Valley, today and tomorrow.
Dr Houstoun, who runs the fracture clinic at the Urgent Doctors, said her first bird was a bantam found running around her suburb, which was taken in by the local kindergarten.
She agreed to give it a home after nobody claimed it.
"It sat inside and watched television," she said.
"It was really friendly."
Pekin bantams made great pets, were "very, very quiet", and could be quickly tamed, she said.
They were also useful for their interest in sitting on eggs - any eggs - until they hatched.
"I just find them very relaxing to watch," she said of the birds.
"They just respond to the way you treat them."
The birds followed her while she did the gardening, just like any other pet.
Dunedin Poultry, Pigeon and Cage Bird Club secretary Charlie Wilson said he expected about 750 entries for the show, once all applications were in, which was a good turnout.
Birds were judged against the New Zealand Standard of Perfection, a book with photographs and details of all breeds, though a clean and well-behaved bird had the edge.
The 35th annual Dunedin show would precede the national show in Invercargill in July, so Mr Wilson said he expected interest to be strong, and fanciers to come from around New Zealand.
