What I’ve learned from keeping chickens at home

If someone had told me a year ago that right now, I’d be spending most of my free time gardening or tending to my three, five, seven, six chickens, I’d have laughed SO hard. And yet here we are…  keeping chickens at home!!

Chickens are en vogue right now – since the start of the first lockdown and that early shortage on eggs, anyone and everyone who has enough space  seems to have started keeping chickens.  I have to say though, from the moment we put an offer in our house back in early December, we knew we’d have them because quite frankly with dreams of semi-self sustainability a garden as big as ours, it would be rude not to. 

Roll forward to April and our first chickens arrived. Three previous rescues via a local Bristol charity Hen Chance. They were fluffy and in good health and we very quickly fell in love with them, despite not having a clue what we were doing. We  decided to name them after the three female characters in a TV show we’d just finished watching – Tahani, Janet and Eleanor. Any guesses? It’s The Good Place. And the good place is exactly what we wanted their retirement to be. 

 

Getting the hang of things

In those early weeks we had no clue what we were doing! We had our girls in a small enclosure with very low fencing, still don’t really understand how we didn’t lose any as they could have literally stepped out and wandered off. Actually, if I remember rightly, that did happen once. We had to tempt Janet out of our neighbours bushes with mealy bugs!

Turns out, like humans, chickens are creatures of habit. They go to bed when the sun sets and get up when it rises. They’ve come to learn that just before dusk, it’s corn o’clock and know the sound of our voices as we approach signalling (hopefully) treats. Keeping chickens is really quite easy. You put their feed and water out i the morning, bring it in at night and give them treats in between. We do a poo patrol (as we call it) every day and a big coop clean out every two weeks with additional hay once a week in the colder months. Any other time we spend with them (and it seems to be ALOT) is purely for fun! 

Enter the posh birds… 

By July we’d decided to add two ‘posh’ chickens to our flock. None of our three original rescues lay (aside from the odd soft shell from Tahani). I think that’s probably why the owner got rid of them. It didn’t matter to us but we thought some eggs would be nice all the same. So, we got Hetty and Valerie, a speckled and Devon cream leg bar. We got them from pipkins and they immediately began laying beautiful green and blue eggs for us. A real treat. They’re not as friendly as the rescues but are still gorgeous girls and we love having them around. 

Free ranging is vital when keeping chickens at home! 

I honestly believe that if you’re going to get chickens  and keep them permanently in their run, you needn’t bother. Ours free-range a lot during the summer and most of the time at the weekends if not lighter evenings after work too. Basically as much time as possible when we can supervise or at least have the back door open. This is when they’re at their happiest, scratching around for worms and enjoying the freedom that many of them haven’t had before.

Our enclosure is around 68 foot which is more than adequate for them (the rule is around 6 square feet per bird) and we’ve added things to keep them happy whilst they’re locked in – big branches to stand and climb on, a mirror for checking out their beautiful faces, a dust bath (B&Q £12 raised bed or an old tyre filled with sand will do) and a covered area for rainy days. We also have CD’s hanging down and often throw in a pumpkin or melon for them to peck at. Chickens are intelligent creatures so when they’re in a run, it’s important that they have stuff to engage with. 

We used to have a bit of a makeshift affair with chicken wire fencing and netting set up under our apple tree but just upgraded our girls to an Omlet walk in run – the creme de la creme! Once it’s finished, I’ll be sure to share pictures on their instagram (yes, they have their own account).

Moving into the world of ex-battery chicken care

In September, we took on two ex-battery chickens. Most supermarkets have banned caged eggs now but a lot of places still sell them. Corner shops, home bargains etc… usually identified by an astoundingly low price point and clear plastic packets. Through Fresh Start For Hens, we adopted two girls – Doreen and Sally – on the day they were liberated along with several thousand other girls. It broke my heart. Bald, scared with white faces and large floppy combs. It was clear that they were in abad way and to be honest in those first few days, each morning I expected the worst.

One thing that really upset me though, was that for those first few days, they carried on laying eggs, like robots. As soon as they stopped, we were really relieved as it meant their energy was being diverted back to self care and not to make eggs.

Now, they’re almost fully feathered, bar a couple of spots and have fattened up a lot although they still seem scrawny compared to our others. They’re inquisitive and friendly, heaven knows why, given how appallingly they’d been treated by humans before they came to us. 

As I’m writing this, we’ve had a real breakthrough with Sally – she laid an EGG!! I am so so proud. It means she’s happy and healthy and, whilst many rescue chickens don’t lay eggs, when they do, it’s a real treat. A perk of the job as chicken mum I guess… 

So what have I learned by keeping chickens at home? 

The list is immense but here are the best things I’ve learned:

Fun stuff:

• Chickens have as much personality as dogs and cats. They know and love us as much as we do them. In fact, they chat to each other and have food preferences! 
• They are food waste heroes – they’ll eat kitchen scraps, garden bits, worms… all sorts. 
• There is nothing like a freshly laid poached egg on toast. 
• Despite what you might think, they make very affordable pets.
• Chickens really love yoghurt, porridge, tomatoes, cucumber and pumpkins. 
• It’s worth getting up at the crack of dawn for those little faces. 
• They make excellent zoom party guests… 

Useful stuff: 

• Poo is part and parcel of being a chicken keeper. It’s going to be on your clothes, your shoes, your hands. It’s a fact of life.
• Stop worrying about your grass… it’ll be a distant memory soon enough!
• Vaseline is an important tool – for keeping those combs soft and smooth. 
• Get some peck spray – it’s purple and stops others pecking at sore patches on your girls – it’s also mildly antibacterial. 
• Chicken people are incredibly passionate. I’m in two facebook groups and we laugh, encourage, support and console each other on a daily basis.
• Chickens can recognise up to 100 faces – including human, dog and cat. For example, our girls know our neighbour’s dog and our two cats. They also know our neighbours and run to greet them through the fence when they’re in their garden. 
• Get wellies and a head torch. They’ll prove invaluable at night when you’re locking your girls away.
• Lock your food and bedding in big black dustbins to protect them from rats. 
• Buy the best coop and run you can afford. A coop with a metal bottom will stop badgers and foxes getting in from underneath and if you can, an omlet walk in run will give you absolute peace of mind. 
• You will spend a lot of money, time and energy worrying about and trying to deter, Mr Fox. This is important and worth while. 

So, to end this rather waffly blog post – if you have the time, the energy and the space in your garden, I would wholly recommend getting chickens. If you can adopt rescues, it’s a worthwhile and very humbling experience but don’t do it for the eggs – do it for love and when you do get eggs, enjoy them! 

*Disclaimer – I am an amateur chicken keeper and I would always recommend seeking proper advice before setting up your own flock. There are rules around feeding kitchen scraps and mealy bugs for example.