Plans for chicken housing.

[YORKSHIRELASS]

permission?

Hi there, im brand new to the site and this is my first post
I too am really interested in getting a few chickens but I live in an urban area and am concerned about anoying the neighbours. can anyone tell me how much noise do chickens make? and also do I need to get permission from the local council?

[Saoirse]

Hello Yorkshire lass! I'm pretty new to this forum too, so welcome!

As far as noise is concerned, hens don't make much noise at all. They make lovely cluckings, and will on occasion announce their egg of the day, and when dust bathing they almost purr, but certainly don't make a noise that would annoy any neighbours. We don't keep a cockeral, and he of course would be a nuisance, but you wouldn't need one for egg laying anyway.

I am not aware that you need permission to keep chickens: one of the others may correct me but I'm fairly certain. There are various chicken forums around that will give you tonnes of advise from old timers!!

Nicky

[YORKSHIRELASS]

thanks for that saoirse, the only reason I asked is that i've seen a chicken house for sale on e bay and the seller said they were getting rid because the neighbours had complained about the noise. We have only been in this house a couple of months so I really don't want to make a enemy of the neighbours so early!!

[sewer rat]

I wouldn't think that a few chooks would make enough noise to annoy your or anyone else's neighbours - maybe the noise was just an excuse for the guy selling the coop. Cockerels on the other hand are recognised in law as being a noise nuisance.
It wouldn't do any harm to call your local Council and check though, before you go ahead and invest your hard earned pennies.

[Sunbeam]

Hi there -Yorkshirelass - we have 5 chickens & they are a pretty peaceful bunch - they run riot in the garden, but the only noise we get is when they lay an egg - if you decide to give them the run of the garden make sure you chicken-proof it as neighbours will get a bit snotty if they dig up their seedling...here speaks the enlightened!!!!!!! (well she did insist on putting bits out for them, what did she expect?!) I would avoid a cockeral & would highly recommend the battery hen rescue trust if you want to get some!

[YORKSHIRELASS]

Thanks sunbeam
I was given a link to the site for rescued battery hens but the nearest contact to me is lancashire which is a bit far as I'm in Sheffield.

[yoanbob]

hello compost fairy.
you dont need much money to set up your first chuck house, ask friends and rellies for old shed's or bits of timber, use an old broom handle for a roosting bar (about 20cm's of floor works well) get some nails and a hammer and voila, chuck heaven. just make sure they have enough room to jump on to roosting bar safley, and its rain proof. you dont need to spend a fortune, just make it as draught free as poss for the winter. anything will do for a nesting box, our first one was an empty stella box just add straw.

[poultrychat]

I would be careful about using a broom handle for a perch as the birds will find it hard to perch on as it is too round, a bit of 2x2 with the top edges rounded off would be better. They actually rest on their breast bone at night and on a round perch they would find that very hard. Try cardboard boxes as nest boxes and throw them away once they get dirty and simply replace them