Tell me the basics about keeping chickens. Time , money,etc

[HarrietJ0nes]

Dh & I have been talking about it for a while. He has some experience helping with the chickens at work , I have animal experience but not chickens.

Our allotment has space for chickens and we are allowed them there but I'm not sure about whether we have enough time for them.my mum wouldlike to help but we don't want to rely on her too much.

The allotment is 10min walk from us/5 from school so easy to get to but how much time do they need?

Marking my place as I too have a notion for fresh eggs...

Timewise, they're not especially onerous but you do need to attend to them for 5-10mn twice a day, in the early morning and at dusk (which are different times in winter and summer). Can you manage to fit in visits to the allotment at 7 or 8 pm in the spring and summer, or 6:30 ish in the winter? The chickens will not go in to roost until it starts to get dark.

Secondly, in terms of cost, there are many different ways of doing it. It depends what you will house them in- expensive bought coop or handmade from reclaimed wood- it makes a huge difference. It depends what you feed them how much they cost to run. If you give them layers' pellets as well as corn it will cost more than kitchen scraps and corn but you will get more eggs. They will also need greens (grass is ideal but outer cabbage leaves etc are good as well).

Thirdly you must assume that there are foxes about and protect them accordingly (electric fence or wire at least 6 feet high including the gate). If using standard chicken wire you will need to dig it in around the run or your fox will tunnel in.

Fourthly, when the girls get old you and stop laying are going to have to make a decision about what to do with them. They could end up costing a lot of money and laying nothing or virtually nothing for some years. If you don't think you can dispatch them then you will have to factor in the cost of keeping them well into old age for no return.

You can actually avoid this in fact by getting modern hybrid layers. They are very cheap to buy (about 4 pounds each down here POL (Point of Lay)) and would be the best bet of anybody starting out in chicken keeping. Everyone makes mistakes at first and it's best not to do it with 20 quid birds...

Any more questions please feel free to ask.