Thinking of getting some chickens??? help

[johninblackpool]

Hi everyone
My wife thinks we should get some chickens in our back garden
The problem is there isn't a great deal of space so the only place we have to place the coop is under a tree at the bottom of the garden
I have heard that some trees are poisonous to chickens.... do you know if lilac trees are poisonous to them
Also as the space is small only about 2m x 2m will this be big enough for 3 chickens and a coop
what is best on the ground turf or will the ground as it is be ok
currently just leaf and twigs that have come off the tree
can anybody reccommend a good book about keeping chickens for an absolute total novice

cheers
john

[dexterdoglancashire]

Hi John
Im not sure about the space nor the tree but it you have a look at my post no 23 on my 'barking mad idea' thread that will show you what I had for my girls. If you do a search Im sure you'll find out about the space needed for chooks, but considering my first hutch/run the space wasn't that big, so I got them the second run. A good book is 'starting with chickens' by katie thear. Best place for chooks is "Happy Chicks" at Over Wyre - go and see Sarah, just pop down and go and have a look and ask her whatever, she is brill and would love to help you. They also have a website you can look at. I got Bluebelle and Marigold from Sarah.
Good luck!
Let everyone know how you get on.
PS The sun is shining here in Preston - hope it is in Blackpool too!

[MrsC]

Hi John, 2m x 2m square for the coop alone or total space for the run included? It would be ok for 3 girls if you could let them out for a bit of free ranging during the day. If you're thinking on 3 hybrid egg layers then I can't see why not. It's upto you and you can get bogged down with google searches and reading up etc. I have 9 hybrids housed together in a '3 x 4' house and run of about 8' x 12' on top but they do free range everyday in the garden. The bantams are housed apart from the big girls. There are no laws etc on chicken keeping only regulations (so called) that's why we still have battery farms. Let us know what you decide, you can't get better advice than from grapes on here. If problems pop up then put on a post, there is always someone to help on here that'a why I like it so much, it's real advice from experienced people. Good luck and post those pictures!

[Sopho]

John,
I had to keep my girls in a small area for a while when I moved house and still hadn't built them a bigger coop/run. It was about 3m x 3m including coop space, I had 4 chooks. They did continue laying, but are much happier where they are now. So long as they get to 'play out' every now and then (everyday if poss)they should be ok. even if you buy a puppy enclosure from online pet stores, they are foldable and easy to store and high enough to contain your chooks while they play.

They are the most loveable, productive pets. But it does get addictive, I started off with 2, then 4, now have 10 and 4 ducks!!

Sopho

[sheena]

The area you described is ideal for the 3 hens previously mentioned.

I too am tight for space in my garden (hubby won't let me take anymore of he's lawn), So my run is 12' x 3' and the house is raised up 2' above the run (so they shelter under the house) and that is 4' x 3'.

The most chooks I have had in this space is 7, they were all cuddled together of a night and get let out on the grass 3 times a week (when hubby isn't looking) so they can have a quick forage around.