Keeping Chickens is Easy and Fun!

Hattie and Joyce are ISA Warren hens (AKA ISA Brown), a hybrid breed known for their placid characters and for reliable egg-laying. Named after Hattie Jacques and Joyce Grenfell, they are cheerful ladies who know exactly when it's feeding time. They enjoy sunbathing (on their sides with one leg stuck up in the air) and a cuddle, and a fresh snail or two is considered heaven indeed.

Happy hens will lay eggs without a cockerel being around. If you have neighbours who are likely to object to cockadoodledoing, then make sure you only buy hens. Here in England, the law allows people to keep hens in their garden but some bylaws forbid cockerels because of their noise.

So what does it take to keep chickens?

Not much, actually. They need a dry, dark, well ventilated coop with clean straw to make warm nests in. Both the chicken coop and run need to keep them safe from predators. You can buy these as flat-packs, and prices vary considerably so it's well worth shopping around. If you're handy at DIY you can save a lot of money by making your own, or you can convert an existing shed.

And they need food and clean water.

In return, you'll get fresh eggs and some surprisingly amusing new companions.

There are two basic types of coop - the triangular arc, which is fine for two or three birds (usually); and the house and run.  The arc is perhaps more readily portable, so if you want to move it around your garden you can.  Some have wheels to make this even easier.  Or you could find a set of discarded wheels and devise your own method of moving the arc around. 

First decide how many birds you want to keep, then make sure your house and run will be big enough.  Birds need space, especially if you don't plan to let them wander round your garden - where they'll eat bugs and weeds (and all other edible plants they can get at.)  For example, the run in the video above is just big enough for two hens - and only just, which is why I'm about to replace it with something more suitable.

Adult birds can cope with being cold, but cold and damp together will kill them.  The coop needs to provide a dry, predator-proof and quiet environment for your birds.  Clean straw and hay should be provided for warmth and for nesting materials. 

The coop should be kept clean and well ventilated, especially in summer.  The walls of the coop should have ventilation holes to ensure a constant supply of fresh air as otherwise ammonia fumes can build up.  Keep an eye out for red mite, which feed on your chickens' blood and deplete their vitality.  There are products available to eradicate these pests.

A chicken's instinct is to roost on a perch.  They were jungle birds once, a long time ago, and they feel safer higher off the ground.  Provide perches as well as individual nest boxes, and you'll have a happy flock of chickens. 

These are sociable birds, and it is cruel to keep one on its own.  They will establish a pecking order - the highest ranking bird will sit on the highest perch.  Any new birds need to be introduced carefully as they'll be bullied for a few days until things settle down again and the new pecking order is in place.

Purchase commercial chicken feed from a farm outlet and you'll find that so much cheaper than at a pet store or supermarket.

Chickens need grit to aid digestion, and there are a number of products in pellet form which provide all the nutrients needed for happy hens to regularly lay eggs.

They'll enjoy your kitchen's vegetable peelings too. Mine aren't over-keen on too many potato peelings but any green leaves are devoured rapidly. Weeds, such as dandylions and chickweed, are welcomed too, as are avian seed mixes. There's not much they won't eat.

Allow them to walk around your garden, and they'll happily devour any snails, worms and bugs rash enough to cross their path.  My own garden has enjoyed a minor renaissance in growth since Hattie and Joyce arrived.  Who needs bug spray when you have chickens?

If you've any bits of scrap dinner left over, they'll demolish this too.  Ours adore pasta, roast potatoes and gone-soggy veg.  In fact, there's not much they won't have a go at eating - including the dog's dinner (so keep them away to prevent Fido's cross reaction!) 

Actually, our other household pets soon accepted the chickens as part of the family.  Our Jack Russell Terrier has even been known to join the chickens for a snooze in the straw inside the chicken coup.