A couple of questions from a possible chicken newbie

[justanothertenminutes]

I will hopefully be getting some chickens for the back garden & was hoping that someone may be able to answer the following questions:
Are there any health risks involved with keeping chickens? (DS is 14 mths)Have tried looking on the internet, but havent found anything.
We have a brick built shed - could they stay in that overnight & then a run for the daytime when we are not about?
How many is best? Does it matter? looking at 3 or four
Any comments/suggestions gratefully received!
TIA

There are no health risks

Your child will only taste chicken shit once

Yes to the shed and run. We had 2 chickens for five years. I would love to get more now - I miss mine, they had wonderful characters.

No health risks, apart from normal hand washing required etc, that I know of. As long as your accomodation is secure against predators, it'll be fine. It's recommended to keep a minimum of three hens, so that if one dies you're not left with a lone hen. They really do need company. Go for it, chickens are fab!

As above!

Get the most you can ie 4 rather than 3! we started with 2 and now have 4.

Chooks are brill do it!

Ooooh, getting stupidly excited now!!!! Someone has suggested getting ex-battery hens, is this a good idea? ie sounds wonderful but will i get eggs still? or are they old birds?

We have 2 ex batts and they are our best layers! They are only kept for a year in captivity then usually go to the (whispers quietly)nugget factory unless rescued.

Ours were really sad forlorn looking things when we got them but grew back feathers within 2 months.

1 started laying within a month the other took 3 months but so rewarding.

Plus they are much more affectionate than my black rocks.

The BHWT are excellent

Sounds great, will look at their website. Thanks

I got 3 ex-batts at the weekend from Little Hen Rescue who are based near Norwich and they are fab. They are fairly well feathered although a little skinny but have settled in really well. We had one egg on Sunday afternoon (the day we got them) and have had another 10 since!