Page 22 - ALG Issue 3 2014

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Our own personal experience of keeping chickens
Five years ago we decided to enter the world of keeping livestock by buying three chickens for our allotment. It has been great fun and we have had some real characters – yes, chickens do have personalities!
Firstly, we bought a ready-made coop, which would house six chickens, and
we built a fairly large run (approx 22 x
8 ft). We put the chicken wire two feet underground and covered the top – foxes, we dare you! Our first chickens cost about £5 each and we have had a good return on eggs, keeping us and the family (and our friends) in eggs. Chickens lay about six eggs each per week, even in winter. We bought point-of-lay Warrens because they are the best egg producers. We have since bought another four to replace our originals. Chickens live, on average, for about three to four years.
The pecking order is real
and we have found that it
is better to have an even
number of chickens and
then no one is a lone ranger.
Neither of us are experts and
most of our knowledge has
come from books and the
internet and so professional
chicken keepers may have
something to say about our
husbandry skills. However,
our chickens seem happy and content so we must be doing something right.
We have an additional summer run
for them – made round the edge of the allotment and in the winter time, when less is growing, they have the run of the whole allotment with protection
for plants still growing.
The bonus for winter
is that we have
ample supply to our
plots of manure! It
has fairly cut down
on the weeds with
the exception
of mare’s tails
which seem to be
immune to most
attempts to eradicate
them.
There is a
commitment required.
We need to be on the
allotment first thing in
the morning and last thing
at night, generally sunrise and sunset. In the winter they go to bed at 4pm and in the summer 10pm and this includes Christmas
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There is also the sad time when they near the end of their lives and we have to do the deed
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day. Our allotment friends help out when we are away and they are paid
in eggs. Composters lose out as greenery destined to be put in the compost from our fellow “allotmenteers” quite often finds its way to our chicken run.
Feed has to be bought - layer pellets and split maize, which costs about £10 per month,
and we feed them the corn at night to store in their coops.
Once a month we make a mash from bread ends and put in pellets for intestinal health in the
mash over a three-day period. We use a natural product for
this so we can still eat the eggs during this period. Other
than that they need little else in the way of veterinary care so
no expensive vet bills.
NAS notice
Is it hard? Well, there is the commitment when holiday time comes round but
then we have dogs and cats (and the allotment in the growing season) so it is just another consideration we need to make arrangements for and, luckily, our friends help out. There is also the sad time when they near the end of their lives and we have to do the deed. Alastair does this and hates it every time but sometimes they do just pass away. They have been fun and they do follow us around when we are digging – usually standing on the bit you are turning over. If you are thinking about keeping chickens we would recommend it. It is interesting, they are such characters and they make us laugh!
Alastair and Maggi Harris Free Lane Allotment Society Helmshore, Lancashire.
The Society would advise landlords and associations who allow hen-keeping on their sites to have a policy in place and guidelines for tenants that cover issues such as standard of care and housing, disposal of dead hens and specifies the minimum and maximum number of hens allowed. Contact the Society on natsoc@ nsalg.org.uk if you would like further information.