Space for Chickens

[Mumbles]

Afternoon All

As previously mentioned I will be getting chickens at the beginning of the summer and I am currently planning for their arrival.

I am thinking on getting 3 girls, how much space would people recommend for this many birds?

Thanks

[skeggijon]

I think the best answer is as much as you can manage, but an absolute minimum of 1 sq.m per bird - although I think that unless you will be letting the girls roam regularly that you should allow double that.

[Mumbles]

I'm aiming to get the full allotment properly fenced so I can let them roam when I'm down there (is this a good idea, will they eat everything I'm growing!?) but will obviously be shut in the run for the time I am not there

[skeggijon]

You don't need to worry about the allotment being fully fenced. They don't tend to wander to far from their coop and as long as you're their to look out for them its not a big worry. A number of my lotty neighbours have their girls running free. I have mine at home (banties), but planning to get a flock for the lotty in the spring.

[veggiechicken]

They'll eat your veg and dig in the beds - mine do

[BertieFox]

Wandering chooks have now become a total nightmare here. We love to let them free range, but even though we have four acres or so of rough pasture, woodland and neighbours' fields, the one place they all love to end up is the 'potager' (posh French name) or veggie garden. I just sowed the polytunnel with great care in a square foot fashion, with lots of winter greens, but a moment's negligence and the evil little birds were in there reducing everything to a dust bath. When the chickens finished, in came the dog to dig a 'deep bed', and then the cat to make use of the area for her 'toilette'.

I'm not sure what is going to be the easiest thing to do. I hate to shut the chooks in to a limited area as they clearly love their freedom, but it would be far cheaper to do that than to fence the entire veg. garden. But I will have to do one or the other before the spring.

[Scarlet]

A number of my lotty neighbours have their girls running free.

Really? I wouldn't be too pleased if my next door neighbours chickens ate my veg!
I would never let my chickens on my veg patch intentionally, they will dig up all newly planted veg and eat all your hard work. If a dog is on an allotment it's fair game if your chickens are loose. All my birds are kept behind an electric fence.

[Alison]

You don't need to worry about the allotment being fully fenced. They don't tend to wander to far from their coop and as long as you're their to look out for them its not a big worry. A number of my lotty neighbours have their girls running free. I have mine at home (banties), but planning to get a flock for the lotty in the spring.

There's some on ours that do that although to be fair it's more bad fencing than deliberate. It's VERY annoying as a) they eat my greens and b) I'm scared of them and it stresses me that at any time they can come up behind pecking at things (including me). If I felt anybody was making no effort to keep them on their own plot I would be complaining, a lot so please bear this in mind when you let yours wander everywhere. The same applies for dogs and children.

[kathyd]

In terms of keeping chickens off your veg, I use acres of debris netting while things are small enough to get damaged - this keeps off cats, dogs and numerous other pests as well as the chooks! I also attach half-height debris netting across the doors of my polytunnel BertieFox, using cup hooks to pin it on with. Again, this protects from chickens and mostly from the cats, and I suspect it's helped with carrot fly too. It still lets the air circulate, so it's not causing problems for the veg inside either. If I wanted to 'fence in' an allotment to keep chickens in while I worked, debris netting would also be my preferred choice - cheap, lightweight, and endlessly useful in all sorts of ways .

[Scarlet]

I'm aiming to get the full allotment properly fenced so I can let them roam when I'm down there (is this a good idea, will they eat everything I'm growing!?) but will obviously be shut in the run for the time I am not there

How long are you down there in the winter? Maybe not so bad during the Summer. When it comes to going home, you'll have to catch them...they won't be willing to go in.

[skeggijon]

Maybe my neighbours just have very well behaved chickens, but none of them seem to stray much from their plots. Its never been a problem here.

[muddled]

I would consider some sort of chicken tractor arrangement.

A chicken tractor is a sort of mobile coop/run that place over beds to allow the girls to eat the slug eggs and beasties, spent crops and weeds, fertilising as they go....and you move it every day or two.
That way the girls are always confined exactly where you want them, they're always on fresh ground so not building up parasites or doing too much damage and they get to do their work all day really efficiently.
At it's simplest a chook tractor is a bit of moveable fencing....but remember to provide shade and shelter and water.
Or you can invest in something purpose built with wheels and nestboxes that they can live in full time.

I have to say that my girls are rather intrepid, roam quite far and happily flutter over fences if the grass looks greener on the other side. Little minxes

[sparrow100]

It's a good idea, but harder to do when the plot is in full swing and most of the beds are occupied.

One of the guys on our site has chickens who come when called. From looking after my friend's little monsters I know how rare that is...

[Lisasbolt]

Give them as much as possible, you will get tastier eggs, in my opinion. The ladies will be so much happier.
I fenced of 1/4 a ache just for them.

I would never let them go in the veg plot, they eat everything and make dust baths and generally make me want to cry and i am the one running around like a headless chicken trying to get them back in.

[Mumbles]

thanks for all the advice