Chooks

[allotmentlady]

Our local council will not let us keep chickens, they say we have to put a proposal forward with letters from environmental health, RSPCA and a letter from a vet to say he will inspect them! Hardly seems the effort.......

Wish I could keep a few, I envy all you lucky ones!

[Birdie Wife]

What a bummer... why can't councils have standard rules about hens on the allotment??

Do you have no space at home? they're only ickle...

[kirsty b]

Especially if you get bantams....
You could get one of those rabbit hutches that sits above a run, with a little ramp going up into the house. Gives about 1m x 1.5m area underneath. Plenty of room for banties and easily moved.

A woman local to me went to the council and asked for permission to have birds in her garden. She did'nt say exactly what sort of bird and they never asked....

[allotmentlady]

Hmmmmm interesting idea...what I dont get is that there is a woman who lives next door to the allotments and she keeps chickens and has a cockerel, yes he does cock a doodle doo! The council said this does not change their stance......I think it is daft, I forgot to add earlier that they also expect people to go on a chicken husbandry course.
I really think that the council think us Plotholders are thick and childlike!

[Eyren]

The council are probably (understandably) concerned about people potentially putting poultry on their lotties and then not visiting them often enough - and unlike the neighbour's garden, it would be the council who got into trouble if they hadn't taken adequate steps to prevent it happening. Sorry, but if you can't be bothered to comply with the council's rules, why should they believe you will be bothered to look after the chickens?

True, most allotmenteers are not thick or childlike, but there are a lot of people jumping on the Good Life bandwagon in the wake of Jamie Oliver's campaign and not all of them are well-informed and responsible. When I was buying my pekins the other week, we had to wait whilst another couple chose their birds, and I couldn't help overhearing their conversation with the poultryman. Apparently they had been feeding their current chickens on nothing but mixed corn, because they'd been told in a pet shop that this was a "complete feed for chickens"

Apologies for the rant, but I can see both sides of the argument...

[Morff]

I agree. We have three girls and they are spoiled if I'm honest. They will come to the plot on day trips, but continue to live at home with us. Apparently the person who had our plot before us had chickens and they were in a very sorry state, despite our council having fairly stringent rules. Chooks are fairly easy to keep, but they are still reliant on their owners and there are some out there who really should not be allowed the privilege.