Be they chickens, budgies or fish, they aren't classed as an essential item during this lockdown which means the Orange business is losing out on potential sales as well as having to pay for the upkeep of the creatures.

"We are getting a lot of people coming in to try and buy them," Ms Rattray said of their chickens which sit in cages just outside the main facility.

"A lot of people are understanding of the times we are in, but then you get others who can't fathom why. It's difficult, it really is.

"It does impact the business quite a lot but we have to do the right thing and that's not sell them."

This was a big change for the business, which in previous lockdowns was free to sell the critters that they stocked.

But Ms Rattray said they were prepared for this scenario.

"The first lockdown we were selling them and were fine to do that, but when they toughened things up we were told not to sell animals," she said.

"I suppose it would be bringing people into the store and we can't have people looking for things which is fair enough.

"I suppose it's the same as Big W and Kmart where they have sections cordoned off of things you can't buy. I can definitely see from the government's point of view why they might not class animals as essential,"

Despite the disruption, they are still open for business and able to sell things like bedding, dog coats and stock feed.

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