[jakes-old-man]

Hey
evryone, im seriousley considering getting some chickens but im a bit concerned about a couple of things, firstly how much space would i need, secondley i would like to be able to let them roam about a bit, but am worried bout getting them back!!  My allotment is actually in my back garden, and there ar plenty of cats about, will this be a problem, any advice would be a great help. thanks
Andy

[jesschocolate28]

I've had chickens before, and I worried about letting them out and getting them back too :S however, as I soon realized, this is not a problem, ours even escaped onto the pavement outside our neighbours house and were rounded up within minutes! I also kept my chickens in my back garden, so apart from them trying to dig up your plants every now & then, it should be fine, hope this helps, good luck!

[joyfull]

Hi, if they are to spend most of their time in a run you will need at least 2 square meters of clear run space per bird (ideally more).
Cats usually aren't a problem for adult chickens but chicks may be a bit of a temptation to cats. However foxes could be your main concern.
They will - if they can get to it - eat all of the food on your allotment, mine ate my tomatoes, sweetcorn, cabbage, caulis etc so you may want to fence that off, however they will help you when you come to digging it over - they get very close to the spade to catch the worms and beetles so make sure you don't dig into a chicken  .
If you keep your afternoon treat in a plastic container and shake it before giving them a little bit they will associate the noise of that with food and every time you give it a little shake they will come running