Ever fancied keeping chickens in the garden or or on the allotment, but been worried about cost and how to set up houses and runs? If so these pages are here to help!
With guides on how to incubate and hatch your own flock, choosing point-of-lay (POL) birds for breeders, keeping chickens when you have pets or children, through to what to do for minor ailments and illnesses.
Everything you will need to set you on the road to fresh eggs in the morning from your own flock of hens.
Beginner's Chicken Keeping Guide
In the realm of self-sustenance and green living, raising your own flock of chickens has become an increasingly popular choice for many. The joy of collecting fresh eggs and the therapeutic value of caring for these feathered friends is unparalleled....
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions & Articles
These articles were written either in direct response to questions we're often asked or inspired by those questions.
Whilst we're happy to try and answer your questions with an article on the site, before...
Includes: 11 Pages
Keeping Chickens Cool in Hot Weather
It's wonderful weather, hot and sunny. Not the weather we're used to here where summer is often a cool, wet disappointment. Much as we might enjoy this as we sit on the patio under a sunshade sipping a cold drink for our hens it can be a problem.
Hot...
Pet Dogs & Keeping Chickens - Problems with Dogs and Chickens
Although written for those considering keeping chickens when they have a pet dog, or dogs, this article is just as applicable to those keeping other poultry such as ducks or geese.
One area of concern to prospective home chicken keeping is how the family...
Chicken and Poultry Housing & Runs
These articles are all about housing your new chickens. Whether it be a small trio or a larger flock. The articles will help guide you on chicken and poultry housing.
Includes: 6 Pages
Feeding Chickens
These articles are all about feeding chickens. Feed should be adjusted according to the age of your fowl, season and whether they are layers or table birds.
From the Allotment Site Comfrey Articles
Feeding Comfrey to Poultry...
Includes: 10 Pages
Hybrid or Pure Breed Chickens
When you start keeping chickens and come to choose your first birds, it can all be a bit daunting. For a start there's so many breeds to choose from. Hopefully these guides will point you in the right direction.
The first thing to decide is what...
Includes: 2 Pages
Breeding Chickens, Incubating, Hatching, Rearing
Articles on breeding chickens, hatching and rearing whether to establish new flocks or to replace stock. Broody Hen or Incubator? Which is for you?
Includes: 3 Pages
Table Birds for Meat
Most back garden keepers have a few hens that are basically pets who give them a eggs as a bonus. There are some who keep their poultry well but raise some table birds for meat.
The reasons each have vary. Some want the benefit of organic poultry...
Includes: 5 Pages
Noise Problems with Chickens, Noisy Cockerels
By Katie Thear
The scientific basis for cock crowing is that it's part of the male's territorial display. He's declaring that this is his patch! The dawn chorus is also a territorial display, with male blackbirds, thrushes, etc, making the same...
Includes: 2 Pages
Rats and Other Vermin around Chickens
One of the questions people often ask about keeping chickens at home is "Do chickens attract rats and other vermin?" I'm afraid the answer is a qualified "yes" The problem isn't so much that chickens attract rats and vermin themselves but that vermin...
Keeping Chickens on an Allotment – Poultry on the Plot
It seems obvious that keeping chickens on an allotment is the answer for people with limited space at home but there are a number of points to consider first. Even if all seems well, you may find you have problems with bureaucracy. There's some...
Includes: 1 Pages
Which Weld Mesh is Best for Poultry Runs
The two main concerns of a new poultry keeper are how to keep their poultry safe from predators and also how to keep their plants and vegetable garden safe from their new poultry!
When it come to building a run for the new birds the first thing to consider...
Winter Jobs Around the Hen House - Be Prepared!
The time to prepare for winter is before it arrives. That may seem obvious but too often we put the winter jobs off until it is too late and the weather stops work.
Winter is the hungry time for wildlife. If there is a gap in your security, winter...
