AIBU to think I could keep chickens in a normal house in an suburban area?

[KitKat1985]

I've always wanted to have some pet chickens. I've been looking today at these 'Eglu' houses (link below) and it's making me think maybe I could just do it and keep 2-3 chickens in our garden. I've had friends that have had them and found them lovely pets, and our DDs would love them. But is it a completely nuts idea? Our house is detached, but our neighbours are in reasonably close proximity. We have a small-medium sized garden. Has anyone done this? Do they cause problems (noise, smell etc) that are likely to make me a very unpopular neighbour?

www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/

Look at Pekin bantams, they make excellent pets and don’t wreck your gardenas they have feathered feet (they are also just gorgeous). Amazing eggs too.
But beware of foxes, you won’t realise what an absolute menace they are in urban areas until you keep hens.

We live rurally and keep pekins, and ours can free range. But if we were in town they’d have to be in a run permanently unfortunately.

Our neighbors, over the road from us, had chickens that attracted rats. They dug loads of runs under their fence / garden and got into the house. It was a bit of a nightmare for them even when they got rid of the chickens. It also caused problems for their neighbors who's gardens were attached. Chickens are better kept on farms imo.

So long as you're not precious about your garden you'll be fine. Don't get an Eglu, though, as they're too small.

If you have a fully-enclosed coop they won't wake up til you let them out, so no early-morning noise. You can get doors for them that are solar-controlled, so will open for them in the morning and close them in at night.

There'll be rats nearby ayway. If you keep the food in a bin it will help to reduce the ability of rats to get to the grain.

When mentioning the hens to the neighbours start off by offering them eggs first. There's nothing as wonderful as a fresh egg!

Check your deeds, it's surprising how many state you can't keep them on the property. I've even seen a 300yr old country cottage state no chickens, it's not just new build town houses

You'd need to be provide them 2 sqms space per chicken for their wellbeing, which is especially important if you're mainly keeping them in the run.
If you cut their wing feathers they won't stand a chance against an urban fox, if you don't they'll likely look around in the surrounding gardens.
Not sure how big your garden is but they can pretty quickly destroy a smaller garden during the winter months.
And yes, they can be smelly if the weather is wet for a long time.
I never had issues with rats, you need to make sure you bring their feeders in for the night. I'm sure the Eglu runs are ratproof.

My neighbour has them, they absolutely rip up the ground. By the time you've moved the cage a few times you'll have no lawn left. In addition they are not pets. Have you ever tried to catch a chicken? It's like something out a benny hill sketch.

They also shit everywhere and quite frankly it's disgusting you need to keep cleaning their bedding and where they lay out.

In addition when you're away someone will have to give them water and food and check on them, get them back in and let them out. Do you have someone who can do that?

Honestly I take care of my neighbours when she's away and I would strongly counsel anyone getting chickens. Dirty and a shed load of work and the ground is clawed up.

You'll need to make sure they're in the coop by dark each night, rain/hail/sleet/biting wind the lot.

If they're in the run come night time, a fox will get under that in minutes.

We’ve had chickens for about 7 years without noise/rat problems. No cockerel obviously and we don’t leave food lying around. They’re no noiser than the local cats/dogs, and I give eggs to the neighbours. Any gardens where there are compost heaps or people feed birds will have a fairly healthy rat population.

It’s nice if your garden is enclosed enough that you can let them free range, as they’ll be bored if they are in a small run. Bantams need less space than regular sized chickens, cause less havoc and are v cute.

I used to live in a house with chickens next door, even without the rooster they were fucking noisy and up with the first sliver of sunlight

I currently live in a house with chickens next door and they are indeed fucking noisy. And they do attract rats, or at least the chicken food does. It's all a bloody nuisance.

I have two chickens in my garden. I’ve never seen a rat, their food is kept in a big plastic bin. They’re not noisy either. They do shit an awful lot, and I really do mean a lot. They ruin your garden too. Mine are on a 6ft x 18ft fenced bit of garden and not a single weed let alone a plant grows on it now. We clean their house once a week and that does smell a bit but you can’t smell it when you walk past.

Mine made my garden look like the moon. Craters as well. They are good pets though.

We live in a mortgage freehold but poultry’s not allowed. You only allowed two pets as well.

No no no.

I had three chickens, I was careful to buy a breed apparently known for being quiet (bantam Orpington) and I have a lovely big garden, what could go wrong?

First of all they WRECKED my garden. And I have a large garden.
Grass and plants decimated and shit absolutely everywhere and I mean everywhere.

Quiet?
Quiet my arse.
Rather than the sweet and soft and gentle clucking and chirruping I expected as soon as they came into lay they would make the most awful, anti social, loud crowing, clucking, screaming type sound.
They would crow in the morning mostly and a bit throughout the day.

It actually ended up causing serious conflict with our neighbours.

They were cute though, they used to really love coming in the house, you couldn't' leave windows or doors open else they'd be in.

The children absolutely loved chucking seeds over the floor and watching them go crazy pecking up all the seed.

The dog had a fantastic time rounding them all over the garden (border collie)

Sometimes i do miss them but imo they are really not appropriate for the average urban garden

If you move the Eglu and run around regularly, to give the grass a chance to grow back, it should be fine.

They can occasionally be noisy, it depends on their personalities. Some of ours liked to announce to the world, when they'd laid an egg!

Chickens are lovely creatures, plus you get the added bonus of fresh eggs. If you feed them good quality feed, their yolks will be a deep orange colour.

People often feed scraps from the kitchen, which they'll love, but it is actually illegal, so just a heads up there.

Beware, keeping chickens is addictive! We started with 3, after my DH finally relented, and at one point, ended up with 46 chickens in lots of different breeds, and 3 ducks, and DH was just as hooked as I was! We do have the land though!

The only reason we've allowed our flock to run down, is due to our ill health, but we really miss them. We now only have one old girl, (a Cream Legbar, she lays blue eggs) who is 10 years old, and still laying and going broody, bless her, and 2 ducks (a Cayuga, and an Indian Runner).

They do shit an awful lot, and I really do mean a lot. They ruin your garden too

This is my experience too. The amount they shit is astonishing. So if you've young kids you need to be careful as they will not just pick up the lawn, till it's just a literal mud bath you can't walk on in winter, but they will shit everywhere too.

That picture advertising the houses is misleading. It would be more realistic if they were on a patch of barren land surround by their own shit.

Honestly.

And I agree the standard eglu and run are too small. First chicken run I got was 9ftx3ft for 3 chickens and when it arrived I took one look and went and built a 20ftx10ft enclosure for them.

If you move the Eglu and run around regularly, to give the grass a chance to grow back, it should be fine

I don't understand that, I assume they won't be confined to that little run. That they need to be out on the lawn. And if so, they will scratch it up.

I agree RIBlue. I had two and the noise from them was unbelievable. And their shits absolutely rank 🤢

We have chickens and no rats. We have had mice, but the neighbours had them before we had the chickens and we live reasonably really albeit in close proximity to neighbours (think period terraced cottages).

We haven't had nice for a while. We take their food out of the coop at nighttime, and we hang it from the roof as opposed to it being sat on the floor (more likely to get knocked over). We use a hemp bedding on concrete slabs so rats and mice can't dig into the run, and we clean them out regularly.

We had 4 rescued ex bats (now 2 - they're getting old ). They have the run of the garden round our raised beds, and they keep the weeds down a treat. The beds themselves are fenced off. The door to their coop is automatic, so we don't have to let them out and put them to bed every day. No evidence of rats, and when I took one of our neighbours some eggs he said he didn't even know we had them.

So yes, it can be done

I used to have chickens. Beware they absolutely stink, they trash the garden too I would never have them again tbh

Hmm looks like I may be being a bit unreasonable. Damn!

Oh yes and they attract rats and mice

I've got three bantams on my patio in a closed run, they scratch about happily in the mountains of wood chip in there. Rats was my biggest worry, but the run's on concrete which helps protect against rats and foxes as they can't dig under. I have the feed in a metal bin and the feeder in the run is rodent proof. I've seen no sign of rats in the year I've had them.

Re noise, they are in no way noisier than the dogs, children, car engines, car horns, car alarms, people chatting, etc etc. etc. that you get on the average street. Mine don't cluck at all in the mornings, they get let out at 7am and mooch about quietly eating their breakfast. They do have a bit of a squawk after laying an egg and cluck happily if I throw them some scraps. And one of them gets very cross if the other two are in the nesting box and she's alone in the run. You can hear her half way down the street. But it's lasts about 2 or 3 minutes and happens once a day at most. Otherwise they just potter about quietly.

No reason not to, no, but perhaps look at a wooden coop/small shed for them. Eglu's are terrible in cold weather and hot weather. In cold weather water condenses on the inside and makes it very damp and cold. In the summer they're a furnace. Wood has far better insulating properties, and is less likely to produce dangerous mould spores.