Article From SubmitYOURArticle.com: Back Yard Hens? Ask These Questions

How to keep hens and chickens in your back yard
or garden? It's easy, but first you should ask
these five questions:

1. WHICH BREED TO BUY?

Ask yourself the following 6 questions. When you
have the answer, you can google "Chicken Breeds"
and match your criteria to a breed of your choice.

1. Do you care if the breeds are rare/unusual?
2. Do you want birds that will rear chicks?
3. Do you want eggs of a certain colour?
4. Do you require especially docile birds?
5. How important is the rate of egg laying?
6. Do you need a breed that's hardy in winter?

2. WHAT ARE THEIR HOUSING NEEDS?

It's generally agreed that the minimum sizes for
a hen coop should be 4 square feet per bird on
the outside and 1 square feet for each bird .

We use an old dog kennel to keep our 6 chickens
in. Having a 'proper' hen house or coop allows
you more space and options for perches and nest
boxes. You might consider using part of your
garage as a hen house.

We know someone who made a run alongside their
garage, and a hole in the garage wall. They
housed the chickens inside a hutch in the garage,
and let their chickens out into the run each day.

The only problem is with static housing is that
the ground it sits on will get destroyed quite
quickly and quite completely. The grass and
greenery will be scratched away, and the
remaining earth will be a mud bath in the wet,
and a dust bowl in the dry. Because there is no
greenery, more food is required for the hens.

Moveable housing usually means an 'ark'. (type in
'arc' to google to see pictures of what an arc
looks like.) The joy of the ark is that you can
move it around the garden and give your chickens
fresh grass to eat and scratch every day or so.

The downside is that no matter where you put your
ark on your lawn, the chickens will scratch up
and soil that area. This will take a few days, to
recover (or weeks depending on how often you move
the ark).

3. HOW WILL I FEED THEM?

A fully grown chicken will eat about 120grams of
layers pellets a day. You can vary the meal with
scraps from the kitchen. Things that chickens eat
include pasta, cake, rice, sweetcorn and lettuce.

In the UK, DEFRA (the government department for
agriculture) has now issued laws to ban feeding
table scraps to chickens. For large flocks, where
the scraps come from restaurants or commercial
premises, this makes sense. For a few hens you're
your garden being fed with your own scraps, it is
nonsense. However, they passed laws banning it.
Most people just carry on as before ....

Another important factor in your bird's diet is
grit. Chickens hold a certain amount of grit in
their gizzards, (an organ that grinds up any feed
they've eaten making it easier for digestion.)

If your chickens range about your garden they
should find the grit they need from their
surroundings. The layers mash also contains some
grit but if you find the shells are thin or soft,
then you can buy grit from some pet shops or
country stores.

4. HAVE I GOT ENOUGH SPACE FOR THEM? WILL THEY BE
ATTACKED BY PREDATORS?

Most chickens which are raised in a garden or
back yard are allowed to free range, or have a
run that is frequently moved so that they get
fresh ground to scratch.

Your choice is to let your hens have the complete
run of your garden, or construct a 'run', covered
in chicken wire to restrict them to about 12
yards by 3 yards at a time.

When we allowed our 12 hens to have complete
freedom of our back yard, a fox would take one
every 2 months or so. It seemed like a fair
trade-off. Complete freedom, with a 1/24 chance
of being eaten. The hens seemed happy and
unworried by this.

However, the fox began to visit us every week.
Now they live behind an electric netting fence.
Their movements are much more restricted, but we
haven't lost one in the 18 months that we've had
the netting.

You will have to make your own decision on safety
versus complete freedom.

5. DO I NEED A COCKEREL?

No. (The short answer)

If you have a flock of 5 or more hens it helps to
have a cockerel to boss the pecking order, keep
the hens happy, and strut about the place like he
owns it.

However, cockerels can be noisy and aggressive.
They crow (very) early in the morning, which
upsets the neighbours, and some (not all) can
become aggressive and attack you. They attack by
running at you, leaping in the air with a great
flapping of wings, and hitting you with their
feet. The attacks can be noisy and frightening,
but are harmless to adults. Small children can be
hurt.

Hens will lay the same number of eggs each month,
whether you have a cockerel in the flock or not.
If you are keen to have a cockerel, we recommend
getting 3 to 5 hens without a cockerel at first -
then when you have had them for about six months,
add one to your flock.

Try him for a month. If he doesn't fit in, sell
him on .... Or kill him and eat him!

So there are five questions to ask before getting
your first hens. Keeping chickens at home can be
one of the most enjoyable things you can do this
year. Just take it SLOWLY. Buy two or three at
first. If you don't like having them after six
weeks or so, sell them on or give them to a new
home.

I bet that you'll LOVE having them live with you.
They are fun, friendly, and pleased to see you.
Once you are happy with a few .... Get some more!

----------------------------------------------------
Roy Preece of 'easyhens' has kept hens in his
back garden for 5 years. For more information on
the quickest and easiest way to keep hens and
chickens in your garden or back yard go to:
http://www.easyhens.com/

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