Hi Skelly, welcome to the Hen House!
Why not pop into 'Welcome to the Forums' to introduce yourself too; we're a friendly bunch and lots of folks will want to say HI!
Back to your original question... If all she's bought is the hen house then you're OK - has she ordered any chooks yet?
There's lots of info on how best to keep hens on this site - a quick search in the poultry pages will help you sort out how much space they need, what type of security (ie to keep them off your veg patch and also to keep Mr. Fox out) as well as posts on chicken health
Sometimes the best decisions are the one's made on the spur of the moment, but please also read up on what they need / what to do if there's an emergency etc so that you know in advance.
You will need to sort out
- where you will keep them
- how much you have to spend on
- a) securing their run
- b) hen food (typically a bag of layers pellets will cost between £6 and £10, depending on whether you want organic or not)
- c) vets bills
- how many will you get? (this depends entirely on what sort of coop your missus has bought; the smaller it is the fewer hens you can keep otherwise they will fight constantly
- whether you have other animals or children that may be a problem (eg if you have a dog, will he try to 'play' with the hens in his own doggie kind of way? (read: will he kill them?))
- how much time you have to look after them
This isn't an exhaustive list so there will be more that others can add.
RE what type of chickens to buy... I'd start off with something friendly and amiable like a Warren. Others may have different suggestions for a first-timer. These hens are the generic brown type of chicken used in the battery egg trade. They have a lovely temperament and are good egg layers. Don't go for fancy looking hens as these often will take a little more looking after and will always cost you more.
Someone said recently on this forum that hens will take more looking after than cats but not as much as dogs. After all, you don't need to take hens for a walk but they don't just suit themselves like cats!
If it's your wife who bought the henhouse and run, what sort of experience does she have of keeping poultry?
Read through some of the posts in the Hen House forum to get an idea of how much looking after hens need, and wat sort of things can ail them.
Sorry for the long reply. I hope this helps
![happy :)](https://chat.allotment-garden.org/Smileys/green/smile.gif)