Sallygarden Smallholding - The Forum For Sustainable Living

We live in a housing estate in Westmeath with a reasonable size back garden. We have a 3 year old and it is getting towards time for some "animal responsibility" We have talked about having chickens/hens for a while but never got around do doing anything about it. It is something we want to get organised ASAP now though (I am expecting #2 in November and I want to have it sorted by the end of the Summer).

So, can someone tell me what sort of space we need, how many birds and how do go about getting/building a coop (I have a handyman who can build anything so if you have plans to share that would be great).

Is there any regulations about keeping poultry in a town? Do the birds need to be a certain distance from the house?

Thanks,

Laura

Hi Laura
Your 3 year-old will love the hens. We kept 3 in our back garden in the UK

Not sure about Ireland but in the UK some houses say in the deeds that you can't keep livestock (though 2 or 3 hens could technically be classed as "pets" )

No minimum distance from the house - They don't smell much, especially if you mix a spoonful of garlic powder into their food - helps deodorise the poo-smells. Keep them near enough to keep an eye on them and also to let them out on cold winter mornings when you're in your 'jamas.

there's loads of websites with wooden poultry houses - my OH is a carpenter, so I just Googled a load and gave him pics with all the features I wanted (like a base that slides out like a drawer to make cleaning the droppings out a whole load easier and removable roosting bars to make them easier to wash)

We started out with 3 hens as there were 3 of us... the rationale being that if something happened to one of them, there'd still be a pair left as they're very social creatures.

One site I found handy for advice was http://www.omlet.co.uk
Their henhouse has some good design features and the site has loads of advice about back-garden poultry keeping and a very busy forum.

Hope that's some use.

Hi Laura, All good advice from twinkle!

I would just add that a small garden shed is probably a good option. I find my converted hutch is too small and have had to clumsily expand it. The small shed also allows you to store feed, bedding etc as well.

I would strongly recommend that you don't get a cockeral, as they will be classed as a nuisance. Give the hens as much space as you can spare, they will be worth it. I would also only keep bantams in a garden. I have four large fowl in a large run in a small garden. They have stripped it of grass and if they get out into the garden they will tear up anything they can get their claws on! However I've just got a trio of Australorp bantams and they don''t cause half as much disruption, and they are great for the kids as they can pick them up.

Hope that helps. Enjoy!

Bantoms are nice little birds, but more flighty and zippy than other breeds. Their eggs are smaller, but the yolk seems to be the same size as ordinary eggs, with just a little less white ... so great for folk who love their yokes.

Chances are when you go to look at various breeds one will really catch your eye. I love Araucanas, they lay blue/green eggs. Or Marans with chocolate brown eggs.

Thanks everyone. Everywhere I look I keep reading about moving the coop regularly. We don't really have an option to do that. There is one place in the garden that the coop can go and that is it. I know they are going to eat that bit of grass bare and I don't mind. Is it OK to have a static run?

I like the idea of being able to let them out during the day (if I am at home) but I am not sure if my fence is high enough (need to measure it). So many things to think about...

Static run should be fine so long as you can let them out during the day.
You'll love having them. Good luck!

You can think about clipping one of their wings to stop them flying over fences. Ours stay behind a 4ft fence with their wings clipped, we only clip them once a year because they seem to forget about flying once they have been clipped. If we find them coming into the garden we just clip again. Just snip the end 3 inches off each of the 'finger' wing tips ... not too short or they get a chill. And just one wing is fine too, no point in doing both. A large scissors or secateurs works well.

Bantoms are more likely to fly up and out though and because they like to fly around I don't like to cut their wings. The other hens just seem to flap up if they are alarmed by something, or if they are hungry. You have weigh up the pros and cons of wing clipping ... they mightn't be able to flap away from a predator but if you only let them out when you're at home you should be fine.

Also being in an urban spot make sure the chicken coop is pitch dark when they are closed in at night. That way they won't start their lay clucking until you let them out into the light at a reasonable hour.

We had a static run in our back garden - edged it with bricks (or you could use log-roll edging) and lined it with a thick layer of Hemcore (about €11 a bale and it'll last ages) a couple of inches deep.

The idea was to give them something to scratch in but it's marvellous stuff as it kind of dessicates and deodorises the poo (it's chopped hemp stems)

After a couple of months or when it looked manky it was really easy to rake out, composted beautifully - much quicker than straw, and replace.

It was also treated with citronella so helped keep the flies down.

Only stockist I can find in Eire is at Portlaoise though...

Thanks for the info on having a static run.

How soon could I expect them to start laying?

You can usually buy "point of lay" hens which are about 12-14 weeks old - they should lay within a week or 2 of that (when they've settled in)
although it may be sooner if you're lucky.

The comb is a clue - they generally get bigger and redder when the hens come into lay.

Twinkle wrote:You can usually buy "point of lay" hens which are about 12-14 weeks old - they should lay within a week or 2 of that (when they've settled in)
although it may be sooner if you're lucky.

The comb is a clue - they generally get bigger and redder when the hens come into lay.

Hi all, We have a young RHR Roster and hen. They seem pretty small compared to our lovely hybrid light red hens bought for a stall at the local fair. Those first three hens are great layers, although in the last two weeks we are nursing two, one laying still, one not for what looks like peritonitis.
Anyway, the hens are all lovely and hopefully happy but the new rooster and hen still seem smaller. The hen in pert. has still a very small comb and is not laying yet.
Are the new couple just too young yet or could they be bantams although the seller reassured us they are pedigree? and the rings go with this.

We resorted to giving Baytril to the two hens with swollen undervents, having first tried all the homeopathic remedies. The batril (and bum baths) was effective but one hens is no longer laying. Weight loss is worrisome esp. for the one not laying. Youghurts/honey/ vits/ calcium replacements all ongoing.
Would hate that the non layer dosen't regain weight. All seem happy and friendly despite all.
Any advice well recieved.
What about coccidiosis??? Never seen any bloody droppings.
Dee