[Jaye]

And i have no space atm or likelihoof at all....

but I have always fancied some chickens. I don't consoider myself a "pet" person though - but always liked the idea of going out and collecting eggs with a toddler in red wellies (yes rose tinted leneses, yes unrealistoc, yes i know...)

I understand if I ever do get an allotment that there might be a chance of keeping some chciekns - you have to get council approval though. Do any of you keep your chickens on a lottie and how do you contend with security / making sure they are ok and safe?

Jaye

[Fenland Girl]

Jaye, I don't know anything about keeping chickens on a lottie as mine are in my own garden - but I can tell you that collecting eggs with toddlers in wellies is every bit as fun as it sounds - not unrealistic at all!!My youngest, 20 months, adores the chickens and lugs them around like teddies! One of his first words was 'egg'    Scraping chicken poo off the wellies is one of the few downsides though  

[Jaye]

we have a three bed semi -not a massive garden - not sure the neighbours would like me very much if i kept them in the garden!

Jaye

[babe]

there shouldnt be any reason why you couldnt have a couple of hens. they are not noisey, only a little cluck now and then. mine are in my garden and the neighbours dont mind as they get fresh eggs....when they are laying.

aunt sally has two in an eglu.... a super duper cute funky coop. its nice and neat and im sure no one could complain about that

[Jaye]

are they smelly? (assuming you clean them out regularly / properly of course)

Jaye

[babe]

with good husbandry. not at all.

no different to a bunny in a hutch really.

go for it, so much fun.

if space is really limited then go for bantams.

[Sadgit]

yep agreement from me here.. go for it.. We have 3 at home and we only have 1 neighbour and they love the chickens as well..

smelly... not at all as long as you keep them clean, which isn't difficult. Hmm saying that I haven't cleaned mine our for 10 days now and no smell

I hardly see my girls at the moment as I let them out at 6am when I go to work and lock them up at 6pm when I get home... I hate short days... *sigh*

Thats why I have them at home and not the lottie.. I cannot get to the lottie everyday to let them out/in which you will need to do.

[Bodger]

A couple of laying chickens are a lot less trouble, noisy and smelly than a dog. Go for it

[Selkie]

Jaye we have two hens (hoping to add to our little flock this year though ) in a run in our back garden and have neighbours on both sides and no one has complained.

People have commented on how nice it is to see hens in the garden as not many people seem to keep them round here anymore.

Ours do sometimes make a little noise if something spooks them, or if one goes into their house to lay an egg and the other's left out on her own (it's like they have a little conversation going); but I would agree with what everyone else has said - they are no more noisy/smelly etc than most other pets.

If you're renting you might want to check that it's ok for you to keep poultry, I know some places don't allow poultry to be kept in gardens (Henry has this problem in Milton Keynes).

[WG.]

A couple of laying chickens are a lot less trouble, noisy and smelly than a dog.

More eggs too  

[chickychick]

a normal size garden is plenty of space to keep a couple of chickens.  The neighbours probably wouldnt even know you had them until you told them.  Chickens are quiet and easy to care for and the eggs taste lovely, cant think why I didnt do it years ago.

[Jaye]

i've told hubby "not this year" - to be honest my bigegst problem is that my neighbour very kindly put a short picket fence up between the gardens between us exchanging and completeing on the house. Personally with kids a much higher one would have been better as it would stop balls going over and I think i'd have to have a higher fejnce if we kept chooks so it might be a bit of a no go - unless i could fence an area off with netting kind of stuff?

Are there any nasties you have to be careful about with chooks? I had campylobacter once - not pleasant

Do they eat all your veggies or do you fernce them out of the veggie plot?

Jaye

[Mrs.Tweedy]

I have got mine on an allotment and am really lucky that it is within 2-3 minutes walking distance from home. Touch wood I have had no problems with security. I do have a gate with a padlock and chain on it but this is more a token deterrent. If someone really wanted to get in they could but thats true of most circumstances really. I originally kept them in a pen/rabbit run type of a thing but they are so much happier scratching about on the whole plot that I now 'pen' off any crops I am trying to grow. Once they stormed the defences and I lost 30 cauli plants but I couldn't be too cross with them. Again very luckily foxy hasn't found them either although I am sure there must be foxes in the area. The initial cost of fencing can be a bit daunting but    well worth it. I thought about keeping chickens for years and finally did something about it last year. Wish I had done it years ago. Very very rewarding. Go for it
Sue x

[Aunt Sally]

Chickens in the back garden are wonderful.  My garden would seem dead without them.  I use some chicken fencing to keep them off my flower bed (I only have one) but they can dig to their hearts content in the shrub bed at the end of the garden.

They don't smell, even in hot weather.  It is easy to keep their coop and run clean.  They are easy to feed and the neighbours love to feed and water them while we are away - free eggs for them  

I took this picture on Monday this week, the garden looks long (camera trick) but is in fact about 35 feet long by 20 wide (not counting the shed).

[wildeone]

Do they roam around the whole garden minus the flower bed?