Hello I'm new here! I have been considering getting some ex battery hens, but I would like you chickeny experts to tell me if you think its do-able in our situation.
we have a small back garden about 15 ft by 15 ft which is fenced to about 5 and a half ft. it is north facing and doesnt get a huge amount of sun so can be quite damp in winter and we have a slightly larger front garden approximately twice the size, much sunnier and lighter but only has a small fence about 3 and a half ft high. My plan was that we could put a coop in the backgarden let the hens out every day as i am at home most of the time so could supervise them. Firstly is that going to be enough space for 3/4 hens, will they be able to escape over a 5 and a half ft fence? secondly will the dampness be a problem? i know they like a nice dust bath but for part of the year its more likely to be a sludge bath! i assume they would remove all the grass from an area that size quite quickly so could i just put bark chips or similar down to keep it from getting muddy?
the other alternitive would be a run in the front garden but how bog would it need to be. I am confused because when i look at chicken coops/runs online the runs look very small, i cant work out if you are supposed to keep them in the run all the time or are they that small because you have to let them out! We live in a terraced house so dont think our neighbours would thank us if we put a huge obtrusive chicken run in the front garden.
So what do you think? is it possible? and would it be fair to the hens? a family member has hens and a big massive field that they run about in so our garden seems a little pathetic in comparison!
Thank you. sorry its ended up being so long!
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