to consider a few Chickens (and am I underestimating how much work they are?)

[St0pTryingT0MakeFetchHappen]

Blatant post for traffic. We have recently moved into a house with a large enclosed garden and plenty of room for a big chicken run. My thought was that once we are settled (perhaps Spring next year) we might get 2 or 3 chickens, primarily for eggs. They would have the chicken run, plus I would like to give them limited forays into the vegetable patch/main garden to organically pest control slugs/snails etc. I have no experience of chickens (although I am quite familiar with goats/alpacas). So... am I being a hopeless romantic? Is there a good book ( Chickens for Dummies?) Are there any major pitfalls?

Please tell me your chicken secrets!

I currently have 9 chickens and have kept hens for about 4 years but never had any rat issues.
We live rurally surrounded by fields and I suspect the foxes and mink deal with the rats plus I have a dog and cats too.
I have 2 plastic Eglu coops, a 10x10ft metal run with 2 metal extensions, a 50 foot netted fence then about an acre or so of garden that they can wander in. During the very wet winter months, I sometimes put them in the Polytunnel during the daytime so they can clean out the pests and dig it over. One chicken in particular loves the Polytunnel and will sneak inside in the height of summer when it's over 40° inside there.
She's known as 'Batty Fat Betty'.
They've also never had red mites but occasionally one or two will get scaly leg and need treating.
I feed mine organic feed plus various bits of green veg, sweet corn etc.

Re: cold weather. The plastic Eglu coops are well designed to stay warm in winter and cool in summer. There's a YouTube video via the Omlet website that shows the inside temp of their plastic Eglu coop compared to a wooden coop overnight in a cold snowy part of Germany. If it regularly drops below minus 5°, you can always get a special insulated cover for the coop, but I don't really need that here in south west Ireland.

I'd researched keeping chickens before buying them and because I bought two plastic coops plus a walking in run etc., it will take years of egg sales to recoup the money invested but they're my pets rather than livestock, so I don't begrudge the expense.

Friends who have wood coops or less secure housing have lost them to the fox and the mink on occasion and that's desperately upsetting when it happens.

You do need to be around to put them to bed at night (close the coop door). All of mine have their own personality and I love them just as much as the indoor pets.

I’d say the only downside to chickens is foxes.

Lovely cheap pets.

I live rurally too Zelda'smagicwand, so am surrounded by wildlife too, plus dogs and cats. Still got rats after a decade of hens.

We have had more problems with weasels and stoats killing hens than foxes, because they can get through tiny gaps. Foxe's have only been an issue when the hens were not properly shut in their run.

They would have the chicken run, plus I would like to give them limited forays into the vegetable patch/main garden to organically pest control slugs/snails etc.

Hahaha! No, they will ignore the slugs and snails and dig up all of your seedlings plus your potatoes before they are ready. They will not simply eat what you want them to eat.

I have had hens for about 7 years now. They wreck your garden. They ALWAYS chose to poop on the patio/doorstep rather than somewhere hidden and they smell BAD unless you poop pick their coop and run very regularly.

I wouldn't be without my chickens but we treat them as livestock and dispatch when appropriate. We do not use a vet. Keeping 3 or more is best as if one keels its hard to introduce the remaining hen to others. We have an eglu and run but they have free range of a whole garden. They don't tend to eat slugs and snails. I've had all kinds of fancy breeds but you can't beat a docile brown hybrid that lays like the clappers and does what it's told. They are messy, but cheap to keep and take little effort to look after. Also they are hilarious, mine sit on the window cill and stare at me when I make cups of tea.

Tried keeping hens in our large garden but gave up after a few years. They attract rats and foxes, so it costs a lot to keep them safe.
They destroy your flowerbeds.
They smell. They also sound like they’re being murdered when they are laying eggs, poor loves.

The neighbours complained when they saw rats running about nearby.
Save yourself the bother and your cash and just buy free range eggs from a decent supplier.

I love my hens. They are friendly and inquisitive. They eat all the scraps from the house and cakes made with their eggs are so much nicer. However.... as others have said they can wreak havoc in the garden, their poo smells, there are flies in the summer and you can have issues with rats and/or foxes. Mine have an automatic pop hole opener / shutter which helps keep them safe (as I’m away a fair bit with work). I live on a farm so mine are a couple of fields away from the house - no garden terrorism and no moaning from DP about hen shit!! Here are some of them....

How large is your garden OP? Large to some could be too small for chooks. They need room to dig and scratch. How much land do you have. Metres square.

Love chickens! My current flock all crouch down to be stroked when I go into their run

But they eat leftovers

They shouldn't. It's against the law!

Chickens are really low maintenance once set up properly. Would definitely recommend an Eglu and ideally a walk in fox proof run. We had a problem with rats when living in an area with lots of other chicken keepers.

Now we are in the country and they live in our field I’ve not seen a rat in 3 years.

They are lovely, inquisitive, cheeky creatures and I wouldn’t be without them. The eggs are glorious and they only need feeding every other day and cleaning out once a week/fortnight.

You do need to be tough when they get sick, I have nursed chickens back to health (after a fox attack) but equally I’ve had to take them to the vets to put them down when they’ve been clearly ill and not eaten and drunk for a few days. That’s the hard bit and they tend to only live a couple of years and having had chickens for 8 years I’ve said goodbye to a fair few. Despite that I will keep them forever, brilliant pets!

Before you go ahead check your house deeds as some will state in the small print that keeping chickens is not permitted. This is on my deeds and I am in a rural area!

Also, the neighbour of a friend of mine decided to keep chickens and the chicken feed attracted rats. The chicken keeper was reported to the council by various neighbours as they were getting overrun by vermin. They got rid of the chickens after that.

I would endorse the omlet recommendations we have the large one, I got it on ebay (they are expensive new)- do NOT underestimate redmite, we ended up losing 5 or 6 hens and it was very hard work keeping the losses at that level,
this is a great feeder and will prevent any ratty bastards showing an interest

@Elieza we have 0.5 acre. Not sure in metric!

I doubt terms of freehold would be an issue - we are on land that used to be a farm, but I would check about livestock. A few people in our village have chickens but I don't know them well enough to casually chicken chat yet.

Before you go ahead check your house deeds as some will state in the small print that keeping chickens is not permitted. This is on my deeds and I am in a rural area!

Interesting! But assuming the house is freehold, could this actually be enforced? Leasehold is a different matter of course.

ConFusion360

Only to farmed animals as a way to monitor and better control risks etc.
It’s absolutely not illegal to feed pet chickens scraps.

I occasionally chicken sit for my neighbours. They are pretty easy to look after. Fresh eggs are fab!

You will get rats. Hardly fair on your neighbours

I would strongly advise against it.

I had a few hens.
They WRECKED the garden, truly destroyed it.
The grass took months and months to grow back once they were gone.

The amount of shit they produce is insane.

Once my hens cane into laying age they became very loud.
One was particularly noisy throughout the day but none of them were quiet.
You could hear them 3 or 4 houses down, a really obnoxious, loud, nasty noise.
Not lovely, gentle clucking.

They would start with the noise early on, 6/7 in the morning.

We were left with no choice but to rehome them after hearing neighbours complaining.
I definately don't blame them.

They were super cute but imo are utterly unsuited as pets for all but the biggest gardens.

I loved my chickens. But like others have said you need to keep your garden really really secure. I was heartbroken when I lost mine to foxes, it was my own stupid fault for not closing the dodgy catch on the coup properly. I still feel terribly guilty over it. They were so affectionate and pleased to see me every morning.

I console myself that they were ex-battery hens and they had some time in the outdoors, interesting food, lots of affection and I suppose the fox had a good dinner as well. But going out into the garden that morning and seeing the carnage was just awful.

It is illegal to feed any livestock kitchen/household scraps. Chickens, even pet chickens are livestock.

I've had chickens for four years now and IME they're very low maintenance IF you invest in the equipment to make your life easier. I've got a fox-proof walk-in run so I don't need to worry about shutting them away at night/letting them out in the morning. Ive also got an Eglu. I've never had any issues with mites or illness, but you do have to be prepared to dispatch them, which isn't hard (or find a vet that will). All this equipment is great, but hasn't been cheap.

I also second Grandpas Feeders - they help massively with the rat issue.

@Pardonwhat

It’s absolutely not illegal to feed pet chickens scraps.

As far as I am aware, it absolutely is! I'm very happy to be proved wrong though.

" In simple form, the DEFRA regulations state that chickens of any type - commercially kept, pets, layers, non-layers, those intended to enter the food chain and those that are not - cannot be fed kitchen scraps and waste, even if you only keep a couple of chickens and have no intention of ever eating them or selling them. "

Source: www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/can-you-feed-human-food-and-kitchen-scraps-to-chickens.html

From DEFRA themselves..

Information about feeding kitchen scraps or leftovers and/or catering waste to poultry - this is illegal and may spread notifiable or other diseases: www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/diseasecontrol/abp/collect-feed/ban-kitchen-scraps-pet/

Source: apha.defra.gov.uk/documents/surveillance/diseases/backyard-poultry-guidance.pdf

It seems vegan households should be OK.

Again from DEFRA...

" There is a complete ban on using kitchen waste from non-vegan households and from catering waste containing products of animal origin. It is illegal to use catering waste from kitchens which handle meat, or vegetarian kitchens which may handle dairy products, eggs and so on. This ban also includes catering waste from restaurants and commercial kitchens producing vegan food. "

Source: www.gov.uk/guidance/supplying-and-using-animal-by-products-as-farm-animal-feed#

I bet many chicken owners don't know/do that!
I gave the ones I was looking after leftover cooked rice/grains (and their own eggshells) to eat.
My grandparents mostly fed theirs scraps! But I can see why you shouldn't feed them another animal products.