chickens that roam the garden....

[chrissie the chippy]

would it be possible to have 2 or 3 chickens that have an ark to live in over night and that roam free in the garden for the day (it is a secure garden)?

My oh is convinced that the garden will be covered in chicken poo having young children, I'm not sure that would work? Do they really poo that much? WOuld they dig up plants? Or try and eat plants they maybe shouldn't and get ill?

We already have 3 rabbits that go out in a pen, so I'm not keen on having another....

I'm only just looking into the idea of chickens, just at the research stage

Are they expensive to keep? I read you could feed them for £12 a year?

[rustylady]

Don't keep chickens myself, but I remember when we were kids we had chickens in an ark in the garden. Personally I would have thought that chicken poo was much less harmful than cat poo!

[Polly Fouracre]

My big hens are kept enclosed but my little bantams free range in the garden, I cover any seeds with chicken wire.
I wouln't like to do this if I had babies at the crawling, put everything in their mouth stage but older children wouldn't take any harm.
Also, ckicken poo is a rich source of nitrogen and will only do the garden good.

[TEB]

We allowed our 4 chickens to roam the garden, we put up with it for a few months and then had to put them back in their run, the amount (and size) of poo was enourmous. £12 a year seems a little light to me but it depends on how many there are, our 4 costs about £36 in food a year and then you have to factor in items like, worming, lice, mite powders, bedding material, etc. You may be able to claw some of this back by selling the eggs though

[Nicos]

Mine mostly poop in their coop at night- but they certainly do poop outside.
Chicken poop is pretty stinky if you tread in it- or get it on your clothes.
Personally I wouldn't want to have young kids playing in a poopy area
Also I think young peeps need supervising around chooks- there's a few Grapes on the Vine who've had their eyes pecked at by a chook

When ours had the run of the field and garden, they kept coming into the garden - and veg plot and tucked into the lettuce etc and dust bathed in areas of soil/turf they'd scratched up.
To be honest, I'm happier now they are free-ranging inside an electric fenced area in the field.

How fox-proof is your garden?

Personally ( for peace of mind...cos I'm a bit paranoid...in your situation I'd have a coop and run.

[bluemoon]

I think the estimate of £12 per year is per individual chicken, so four would be an average of £48, but obviously it depends upon the type/breed of chicken, and the make of chicken feed; if you're using organic then you could easily double that, a cheap and cheerful brand might be less. I believe hybrids are supposed to eat less then 'normal' hens, and bantams less than large fowl, but again it depends on the type/breed and all sorts of other variables such as weather conditions and even if you have a greedy hen or one of those who insists on flinging feed everywhere. You can supplement their diet with your garden produce too, you might get fewer eggs that way, but the ones you do get have the most delicious flavour and yolks of a gorgeous golden colour. As for poo, well it's relatively easy to poo pick, I just use a dustpan and brush, kept specially for that purpose and patrol once or twice a day. Mine are on the lottie and so it doesn't really matter, but I don't want them standing in their own droppings.

[RichmondHens]

We have A LOT of chickens, and some free range, and some are kept in large enclosures. Your chickens will love you if you allow them to free range, and they will be healthier for it. BUT they will poo everywhere, so it's really up to you. They will also dustbathe in your flower beds and eat your vegetables. We actually fence the veg off, rather than the chickens! Chicken poo is harmless to humans, but messy and smelly, and with small children, a lot will get tracked into the house ................. speaking from great experience here!!!! The choice is yours. It's certainly the best for the chickens, but maybe not so good for your kitchen floor!

[RichmondHens]

If you do go down the free range route, top tip - don't give them treats outside the back door as a) they will hang around outside the door waiting for you and poo there, and b) one day when you back is turned they will be in your kitchen!

[julesapple]

If you do go down the free range route, top tip - don't give them treats outside the back door as a) they will hang around outside the door waiting for you and poo there, and b) one day when you back is turned they will be in your kitchen!

I always give our girls their treats in the chook area or, in this foul weather, under the patio table. This hasn't stopped them queuing by the back door waiting for me. I know it's cupboard love, but I'm flattered by it.

Our 6 girls make an awful lot of poo. OH just uses it as an excuse to play with his power washer and hoses it into the grassy areas when it gets too much. We don't have little ones so it's not a problem for us, but given the amounts of poo, I'd be wary of letting younger children loose in my garden.

Maybe an Eglu is what you need?

Jules

[vicky]

To put it honestly they will poo everywhere! You will be amazed at how much a chicken can poo! Chickens and small children just aren't great together as far as that goes as they will be treading in it and worse (my son only ate it once though - he didn't like the taste!).
I reckon £7-8 per food bag times 4 -5 times a year for 4 chickens.
Also they may peck the rabbits...

[Bramble-Poultry]

Keeping chickens certainly is not expensive wth regards to food £12 is slightly optermistic (but not that much) - technically speaking an adult bird requires 1kg of food per week (this is based on the type of bird you would find in a commercial system) now you bird will get other food from scratching around, treat you give it etc but its not a bad guide.

20kg sack of feed costs around £6.00 retail so technically you need 2.6 bags per year per bird BUT with the addition of the treats you will probably get away with 2 sacks per year per bird - so theres you £12. However there is the cost of your bedding material, costs of treats if you are giving them more than scraps, the cost of any additives you put into the food/water such as apple cider vinegar, cod live oil, natural yoghurt etc - so £12 each for feed and probably around and extra £20 per year but of course this is split between however many birds you have because you change the bedding every week whether you have 1 or 10. I allow £20 per bir per year for keeping costs + obvioulsy a contingency for vet fees. So not expensive at all.

Note to self - when food bill hits £100 per month its possible you may have too many birds!!

[DaisyDiamond]

Having a fairly compact garden I keep a couple of chooks in an ark and then let them free range when I am home. Where the ark is on the grass is pretty much bare and poopy. When they are free ranging in the garden they do poop a bit but with only a couple it is not too bad at all. Like other people have said it is easy to go round every day or two and scoop it up for the compost and wash down the patio. 5 minutes every day or 2 is better than a mucky garden.

I have fenced off the veggie patch as they dig through that if they get the chance. In the plants they do scratch around a bit. I think it depends on the plants as they leave most of my plants alone but always go for the same one or two which I have now sacrificed to save the others.

Despite a little inconvenience and dustbaths in the lawn, the eggs and funny mannerisms make them all worth it and although I don't have kids, the neighbours toddlers love them and the girls are great with them too.

[tlck9]

I pay around £8 for my food per 20kg bag, this has lasted me for over 4 weeks and I reckon I have about the same again, so I think it should last at least 8 weeks.

I also give them corn which is £3-4 for 5kg that has lasted 4 weeks as well and I still have a big tub left, although I have given some to the neighbours chickens over the last week and a bit.

Bedding is £2.80ish per month, but I do put quit a layer on the floor so that after each poo it hasnt soaked into the paper, so a bag usually lasts 3 cleans, but I do replace every week, which some would say is possibily a bit much since I could do do a partial change

then you have your mite spray, grit etc

So I reckon each chuck costs me around £24 per year? however I get an average of 3 eggs per day, which I sell around 10 per week and use the rest so they perhaps so if my maths is correct i pay around £19 per year overall for 4 chucks

.....OMG I think I must be way out on that...but it is friday afternoon

[tlck9]

ps mine poo for england, cornwall and wales!!

but its easily picked up with a cat little scoop 79p

[janeyo]

We have 3, the free range in an 25 foot area square. They had scratched it to earth in 3 weeks!
There is a lot of poo, I make sure my 2 little ones are supervised in there in case they fall in the poo etc.
You can pick the whole ones up and throw on the flower beds but more often than not the chooks have already trodden them flat...