Would love a couple of chucks.

[cheops]

I would love to have just a couple of hens just to see them content and together. Any eggs would just be a bonus.
I have a nice back garden a reasonable size and part is decking. I could easily build a small house for them to roost and be safe at night. But the big question is - as they would have full run of the garden would they destroy the lawn, destroy the flower beds and destroy the gooseberries, currants etc. I fear the answer is yes but I'm so desperate I'm hoping I'm wrong. I would never want them to be restricted to a caged run as it would have to be only a couple of square metres.
I might add the garden backs out onto a farmers field which is grass cut three or four times for silage. I'm tempted to have a house against the back fence so they could access the field not my garden as the back fence is simply metre high posts with two horizontal planks. But can I expect a farmer not to mind?

[veggiechicken]

The short answer is - yes they will eat your fruit and veg. They like to scratch about so dig holes in the beds and lawn.
Letting them out into a field may not be good idea if you have foxes around.
However, you could have them in a moveable run and use them to clear patches of ground for you. Google "chicken tractor" for ideas.
I only have 2 hens now but they're great fun and I wouldn't be without them. Go for it, you'll find a way of incorporating them into your garden

[cheops]

Thx Veggie I'll google that.

[muddled]

Firstly....YES. They will trash your garden.

Secondly...A trio of chooks (always aim for three or more...with two hens, if one dies, the other will be distraught and introductions for a distraught hen are just awful) three hens in a run a couple of square metres will be perfectly content, especially if you give them supervised access to your garden when you can along with armfulls of fresh veggies and weedings to scratch about in their run.

Thirdly....NO. You cannot expect the farmer not to mind! If he wanted chickens he'd HAVE chickens!!

[Gillykat]

I'd be thinking the same question for a while now - whether my allotment (roughly 90ft x 30ft) would be big enough for, say, three bantams. I'd be perfectly happy to make them a nice dust bathing area and have them free-range as much as possible in daylight hours with a cosy run and sleeping area for nights and bad weather days etc. Hubby was more concerned about them being taken by a Buzzard or Sparrowhawk whereas I was more about whether they would trash the plot and turn it into a mud bath like other tenants have....though they DO have a lot more ducks, geese and chickens (larger breeds too!) than three little Bantams.
Like Cheops I'm not too bothered about eggs (or, dare I say it, meat!) from the birds - I just really like chickens and have always fancied having some but just never had the space or lived in an area where they were allowed.

Definitely something for me to research as it'll be a couple of years before I do plan to get any

[muddled]

Don't compare chickens to ducks...ducks make SOOOO much more mess!

Ducks = mud.
Chooks = desert.

[Gillykat]

Yes, now I come to think of it the guy opposite me has 20+ hens and a cockerel and his enclosure IS more of a dust bath and the chap two doors up has Muscovy ducks and three geese and it's like the Somme!

TBH I thought it was just them *whisper* not looking after them properly and being bothered about giving them a nice plot with things to explore and bathe in etc.

Thanks for the advice I must admit I do like a lush, full-of-flowers garden so perhaps I should stick to 'my' Bumble Bees

[cheops]

Thx everyone for replies information and advice.
Muddled - you say three hens and I understand your logic. However you say a run of a couple of square metres is ample. That seems very small to me. I want to look after the welfare of any hens but you are the expert and if others say a couple of square metres is enough also then I accept that. I could give them maybe three or four square metres along the side of the house which is fenced in from the road. The ground is loose stones. Is that ok? And the fence is about 5metres high. Would they be able to fly over it?

[muddled]

I'm not an expert but I keep my four hens in an eight ft by eight ft enclosure.

They have a dust bath in there, their coop, feeders and various climbing frames that they never use but which my husband and kids enjoy building for them!

When I can, I let them range round the garden.
Never in spring because they do love a seedling.
Never unattended because of foxes.
But in the autumn and winter, when I'm working out there they clear all the slug eggs for me and in very early spring they spend a few mornings in my greenhouse munching on beasties.

All my weeds, peelings and excess veggies go in the run for them to 'process' for me.

Compare this to commercial egg layers where I believe the current 'improved' standard is about the size of one A4 sheet of paper per bird.

I think the issue of life quality involves more than just space, its about safety, sunlight, forage and health.
I think you will be able to provide your hens a really good standard of living in your couple of square metres with controlled access to the rest of the garden sometimes.

There is a thread on here somewhere about peoples set ups for their birds...perhaps one the mods can find it for us? It will give you some ideas of how lovely you can make their home.

[veggiechicken]

This one muddled? http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tos_62713.html

[veggiechicken]

Here's one I "made" earlier from a plastic dog kennel http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1415597
Its working really well and so easy to clean out, compared to the wooden shed they used to use.

[Gillykat]

Mmmm some nice set-ups there - perhaps three Bantams would work out ok in the future after all. Neil is pretty good at woodwork so could make a secure run no problem and I like that idea of a plastic dog kennel - would be so much easier to clean out and sterilise than wood perhaps?

Definitely sounds like a future project as I've always liked chickens and one of my penpals has a couple of older ladies and they sound like such characters