Live in a city

[iwatkins]

and have a small back garden, most taken over by vegetables :-) If you can't eat it, it isn't worth growing is my motto. My wife disagrees :-)

With a lawn about 3m x 10m is this too small an area to have some chickens in a run?

I can't let them roam free because the cost of chicken-proofing the garden would keep me in Free Range eggs for the rest of my life :-) but would like to keep a couple of hens or so if possible.

Every book I pick up seems to assume you have a three acre smallholding.....

Ian Watkins

[RichmondHens]

Every book I pick up seems to assume you have a three acre smallholding.....

Ian Watkins

That's because chickens are traditionally a farmyard animal, which naturally roam and forage for their food and are at their happiest when given that sort of freedom.

However, it is perfectly possible to keep two or three hens in a much smaller space and many people do, but you have to plan the design of the run carefully, the feeding regime, and also choose a breed of hen that does not get easily frustrated by being literally "cooped up" the whole time. 3 x 10 m is perfectly ok for 3 or 4 hens, but do not expect it to remain as grass for very long. Plan to dig it out to a depth of 4 or 5 inches when the grass has gone and replace with a thick layer of woodchip. Also try and cover part of the run so it always stays dry and therefore provide somewhere for the hens to dustbathe, an essential part of their little lives.

[Flummery]

Also, consider 3 rather than 2. They do like company and when inevitably you lost one, the other will be a sad loner.

[Snadger]

I have my retirement garden, including a spot for a few chooks already planned. As far as I know, no one else has chooks in the street but hopefully it won't be a problem.

I think in this modern era chooks, along with allotments seem to be the 'in thing' anyway!

[iwatkins]

Thanks. What sort of size coop will I need for three hens? I've looked at a second-hand Eglu which are supposedly OK for three hens. Or does anybody have any other suggestions? We'll need to move it around the garden easily.

[petal]

eglus are great as you won't get red mite. I think a forsham ark might be best, its triangular and easy to move with handles. Foxes are a big problem in urban areas(wait until we get a rabies outbreak - then all the do gooders will be sorry then....!) so they will be safest in an enclosure. I would get 3 nice light sussex bantams. - smaller eggs but great layers and don't need as much room.

[baldrick]

Ive got an aviary with the house on a table to maximise space and provide a dry outdoor area. there are perches of varying heights again to maximise space, and access to outside the aviary too, though that wasnt my original intention! my ex batts never learned to use the high perches so i had to let them outside once they had recovered. the floor is wire then rubble then soil then about 6inches of chippings which is converted to lovely compost and removed little by little til im down to soil then replaced. the wire of the floor is attached to the walls so when the door is shut its reasonably predator proof.think when i replace the run ill be using small weld mesh not chicken wire tho.