Chicken Advice

Over the past few years there has been an increase in the number of residents enquiring about keeping chickens in their gardens.  Sometimes people want to raise the birds from chicks, but increasingly, residents are taking on ex battery hens, that can provide a few eggs for their family whilst at the same time enriching the life of both the chickens and the owner.

If you are thinking about getting chickens, there are a few things that you should consider:

• Check your property deeds or check with your landlord that you are allowed to keep chickens on the property, some deeds or tenancy agreements forbid the owning of such animals.
• Let your neighbours know that you are going to keep chickens. As they are not the most common of pets, people do get alarmed when they see chickens in  neighbouring gardens and they often contact the Council to check that this is ok.
• Check whether or not you will require planning permission to erect suitable housing for your animals, usually, no planning permission is required but it is always wise to check.
• Make sure that your birds are not going to cause a nuisance to your neighbours due to noise, odour or pests. These can be controlled by:

• Noise - Only get hens do not get a cockerel. If you do want a cockerel, minimise crowing, by keeping him away from the hens so that he cannot see or hear them. Cockerels should be housed overnight in hen houses with low ceilings to prevent the cockerel from extending his neck to crow.
• Odour - Make sure that the chicken enclosures are kept clean and dispose of any waste promptly and appropriately.
• Pests - Make sure that all animal food is kept in sealed containers and any excess food cleared and disposed of. All animal bedding should be appropriately stored and once used disposed of appropriately.

Check the DEFRA website for their advice and information regarding Avian Flu.