'Outdoor' space for chickens

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I'm researching into my first foray into keeping chickens, something I've wanted to do for a long long time! I have read many sites and various books and I wanted a consensus as to what outside space people have given to their chooks. I would like to have my chickens free range in the garden (it is as yet 'a garden' having been left to waste for several years) but everything I read says that they should be contained in a foxproof run, which seems very sensible!
If I was to keep them within a run how many bantams, as this is what I would like, would be happily contained in a 10'x10' run? I can give them more but have a space which is pretty ideal of this size.
Help anyone?

you need at least 3 or 4 hens and if it is going to be a permenant run then you need to fox proof the sides and the underneath - foxes will dig in. personally I would say no more than 4 and you have to be prepared to clean it out, or move the run and clean it as they will destroy all the grass and pooh everywhere. ours free range in the summer completely and in the winter we have a huge enclosure with 8 ft high fence dug in underground to 3 ft with a fixed door etc. they are out and about but he who cannot be named cant get in. those that fly out also fly back. depends on how much space you want to give up and how much time you want to spend cleaning out.

I assume 3/4 birds for their own company? Why do you let them out only in summer? I would have thought that Mr Fox could get them at any time of the year. I do wantto give them the biggest space I can, ideally the whole garden but interested to know the ideal space dimensions for a few chooks.

Our run is about 9'x9' and we have three largish hens in there. They have a decent space to run around in and like to jump up and down on a branch and their coop as well. They have greens every day and love the lawn mowings to scratch about in so they don't miss out too much. I think there would easily be room for a couple more if needed, or more if I went for smaller ones I suppose. We have dug down and put chicken wire all around so the foxes can't get under and tbh the chooks do enough digging of their own, they would probably dig their way out if they had the chance! It was just a rubbish part of the garden between the shed and a wall to start with so there has been no grass for them to kill. We put wood chippings down which gets replaced every 4 months or so (use ground sanitiser powder in between) and I make sure I pick up as many droppings as possible every day because I don't want any smells to annoy the neighbours. They've been in there quite happily for nearly two years and I've managed to keep it clean and smell-free just by doing a little bit each day, except for now. This relentless rain has turned it into a very smelly swamp. Yuck!. But then it is extreme and the rest of the garden is pretty much under water too even though we live on top of a hill so don't let that put you off. I'm sure when it dries up I can dig some out and rebark and it will be fine again.

Don't read too many books you will scare yourself to death. They make it sound much more difficult than it is .

And yes you want at least 3 in case something happens to 1 and then you won't get 1 left all by itself.

Totally agree Pixel! I read a couple of books and told dh we couldn't possibly have chickens as I'd end up killing them as they were bound to get some disease/parasite/egg stuck. He pointed out we managed to do ok with 4 babies.

When I first got mine I was buying everything at the farm shop some corn for them, and picked up a poultry keepers magazine that was by the till. Before I'd got half way through it I was panicking that I'd made a terrible mistake and they'd be dead of a disease within the week. Not true. Good hygiene and common sense is all that's needed I've found. I would say they are no more difficult than rabbits (properly kept ones that is, not the poor souls in a tiny hutch their whole life), and they don't bite either.

Years ago we had our hens out all day on our farm, in the farmyard, and brought them in before it was dark. They were truly free range. And they had eggs in the barns etc. We had plenty of foxes too. Hens love to scratch about and giving them as much space as possible is ideal. My neighbour has a static henhouse and the hens have about 8X4 ft. It is unpleasant and very messy. I feel sorry for the hens. Give them space and keep them happy.

Trouble is, we have urban foxes and they aren't bothered about wandering around in broad daylight. I saw two this morning while I was taking dd to college and recently I almost tripped over one at 2pm as it wandered out of a garden gate in front of me. I've even opened my front door and found one on the doorstep! We've had one lying a few feet away listening to our conversation with our neighbouring allotment holder and one sitting on the garden wall watching our dog play with a ball.
Last year when we were camping I went for an evening walk and came across a fox. It actually surprised me when it took one look at me and ran away, took me a second to realise of course it was a country fox and wary of humans.

I'd love to let my hens wander but I honestly don't think they'd last a day.

Mine are in an Eglu walk in run. I have lived here nearly 15 years and never seen a fox in my garden. We live in a semi-rural location - village with farmland behind. I do let my chickens out when I am in the garden. I couldn't leave them out all day though.

My two have a 15x5 foot walk in run. Plus an extra fenced off chunk for when we are in the garden.

I do muck them out and put down bedding as it gets very muddy and stinky in there!

Mine have about 5 acres of field and a garden to roam about in. They always make their way to their hen house at dusk when we Lock them up till morning.
Happy happy hens!

Mine have an eglu cube with a 3m run - sandstone all round to deter digging. They have a fenced run outside which is about 5m x 7m, with a tree, lots of digging and ranging. Mostly the three boss girls get out of there and Trollope around the garden - this is fine. Whilst the grass/plants can stand it, all nine free range in the entire garden, usually harassing the dog.

I have 7 large fowl and two pekins (one of my big girls hatched the pekins).

The run with the eglu is covered - I have roofed it with clear corrugated plastic. In the worst of the weather I cover the sides with clear plastic tarp - leaving part open for air to circulate. This way it doesn't become a swamp in there.

Hello, this is something I'm currently wrestling with too. I had a notion of getting chickens at some point in the future when the kids are older and less high maintenance, but I've just been offered a free henhouse (sounds like quite a posh plastic one) by a friend who is downsizing, so I'm wondering whether to bite the bullet.

There are already the remains of a chicken run at the bottom of the garden (wooden posts and chicken wire, with a proper door, approx 3m x 3m) left by the previous owners. But my friend who's offered the hen house says they don't need a run and can just roam loose around the garden and that they'll put themselves to bed when it gets dark.

I don't know what to think. Would they be safe just roaming free? Would they destroy the garden? It's a largeish garden (half acre) - would that be enough space to avoid the feeling of poo everywhere (reckoning on six hens).

I need to do some rapid research and make some decisions - can anyone recommend a good (non-terrifying) book?

Since the run is there already can't you have the best of both worlds? If they are not out all the time you can keep the poo on the garden to a minimum (maybe when planning a bbq or something) and there will be times when it's nice to know they are safe, for instance if you are going out for the day and aren't sure if you will be back before dark. Also having a run makes it easier if you are likely to need neighbours to feed them when you go away, it takes the pressure off them a bit if they are not terrified of a fox getting the chooks in your absence!
Having the run there doesn't mean you can't let the hens out whenever you want in the winter when you don't mind your garden being completely trashed.

Be aware that bantams are light birds and can jump/flutter over fairly high obstacles. There are better hens for laying, unless you are really hooked on bantams. Any fence ought to be rooted at least a foot into the ground and at the entrance gate to the run place a stone slab down protect the weak point for burrowing. You'll learn as you go. Have fun.