First Timer - Lots of questions for the experts...

[Elaineeee]

I have so many questions, some of them probably ridiculous, but I'm completely new to this...

1. How many chickens to get?
2. How much space do they need to be happy?
3. How much does it cost to feed them?
4. South East location - any particular breed?
5. How often to they need cleaning?
6. Will they make a lot of noise?
7. Do I need neighbours permission?

Anything else I need to know?

So grateful for any help at all, thank you.

1. Do they smell? On a scale of 1-10, how bad?

Hiya, I'm not an expert as I've only had mine 6 months but...

1. I got 3 to begin with and that's been a nice number to look after while I've been learning. I have gained an extra one today (quite unintentionally) and am now planning to get another 2...
2. Mine have a 3m run attached to an eglu, they seem happy in there and I let them out whenever I can (although not as often as I'd like so I'm just about to upgrade to a bigger one so I don't feel so guilty)
3. I buy a 25 kg bag of Layers Mash for them about every 6-8 weeks, it costs me £8.50. I also give them food and cooking scraps including cooked peelings, salad leftovers, sweetcorn, pasta, rice - most stuff (no meat though). Since giving them scraps they have been laying more and their eggs are fantastic!
4. I don't know much about breeds, mine are ex battery hens and although a little scruffy to begin with they look fab now (apart from one who is still a bit scraggly) and lay really well. I am thinking of getting a Light Sussex and a Black Rock too now I have a bigger home for them as I think they are beautiful breeds
5. What kind of hen house/run were you looking to get? I have an eglu at the moment and have just bought an eglu cube (check out www.omlet.co.uk) and they are fantastically easy to clean out. I do the droppings tray every 2-3 days (more often in summer) and the whole thing every 2-4 weeks. It doesn't take long with the plastic hen house as you can hose it down. I'm not sure with a wooden house but I would think it would need doing about as often.
6. Mine make a lovely gentle cooing/warbling/clucking sound, luckily my neighbours like the sound as much as I do! It is not loud, they only cluck loudly if they are startled or laying!
7. I don't think you need your neighbour's permission although letting them know might be nice, a promise of spare eggs goes down well! Stick to hens though if you have neighbours, they won't thank you if you get a cockerel!

this book is fab and has pretty much all the info you need in it (as well as a guide to different breeds)

HTH

Oooh, question 8. The house smells a little but only on the inside and only when the droppings tray needs emptying - maybe a 2/10. The end of the run where they eat (and therefore trample food and poo in the most) smells a bit more 5/10 at its very worst (but not at all when it's just been cleaned) but I try and remove soiled chippings and rake it out now and again which really helps. It is not a smell which permeates the garden though, you can only smell it if you are crouched by the end of the run. The base of my run is currently hardwood chippings on dirt which doesn't help, I'm (well, DH is) going to put a concrete pad down for the new house and run with chippings on top so that should be much easier to keep clean/smell free! If you are moving a run about on grass all the time or your chickens are free ranging more than mine do then your run will smell less.

I'll give it a go, we've had chooks for about 3 years now;

I'd also start with 3. They're addictive, so I'd recommend buying a chicken coop bigger than you think you'll need.

As much as possible. It's not a helpful answer, but if they're kept in a coop and run, to protect the ground you'll have to move the run daily. If you can be sure you have a secure garden, they will happily run around the garden all day. Then, of course, their impact on the garden is minimal.
Very little; we have about 20 chooks and get through 2 25kg (£8ish) bags a month. We also buy chopped straw or paper for the coop.

Breed - I'd start with something robust to be honest - columbian blacktails are cute, light sussex are lovely, blackrocks are good layers. A speckeldy would also be fab. What colour eggs are you after?

We clean out once a week. With a smaller house, it's possible to get a pull out droppings tray. Then it's just a case of pulling it out and giving it a quick tap over a compost heap. That really keeps cleaning and smell down.

They are good at shouting when they've laid an egg. But we also have a cockerel which makes them more vocal (they like his attention!). Most of the time they just cluck quietly though.

Depends how close your neighbours are - if they're near then I'd offer eggs and hope they'll be keen enough to look after then when you go away!

Ours don't really smell at all. Although if you don't clean them out they will eventually honk.

All questions answered on the Omlet site.

Guide to Keeping Chickens

we have had chooks for 11 years now and they are great especially if you have kids. real eggs and lovely hens to cuddle! check out omlet site for specific queries but i'd start with 3 or 4 (we had 4 at first and got up to 12 once - now just have 22 but will expand again in the spring). when you are used to them try hatching eggs under a broody (either your own eggs if you have a cockerel or ask around for fertilised eggs wherever you get your feed or buy hatching eggs from ebay -) its really fun and the kids will adore the fluffy babies...