Read A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens for Free Online Page A

a model with wheels. If possible, try it out for manoeuvrability first.
    Although the house should be sturdy, remember that if it is too heavy it will be difficult to move.
Ease of cleaning
    The house will need cleaning out at least every week so the easier it is to do the job, the better.
    Check the access. Imagine trying to get into every nook and cranny – and how may nooks are there to clean anyway? Perches should be removable and there may be a droppings board, which can be taken out and scraped. Sometimes nest-boxes are detachable.
    Ideally the whole house should come apart for when you need to do a thorough clean.

    Taking the house apart for cleaning
    Henhouse Dimensions
    In most cases these are the minimum recommended dimensions for standard chickens – make adjustments for tiny bantams or giant varieties. Cockerels need more room than hens of the same breed.
    Floor Space in the Henhouse
    At least 30 cm square per chicken (assuming there is a run).
    Perches
    5 cm square, with the top edges rounded. Allow about 25 to 30 cm of perch space per bird. Perches should be spaced at least 30 cm apart (not directly underneath each other) with enough room for the tallest chickens to stand upright.
    Pop-Holes
    About 35 cm high by 30 cm wide.
    Nest-Boxes
    30 cm square for average size hens. Allow a nest-box for every three hens.
    Run
    At least 1 m square per bird, more if possible – a chicken should be able to stretch and flap both its wings at the same time!
Shopping around
    Providing suitable living quarters will be the most expensive part of starting to keep chickens, so it’s worth taking time to shop around carefully before buying. To some extent your requirements will vary depending on the type of chicken you decide to keep – in the next chapter we will look at the various breeds.
Scenarios of Keeping Chickens . . .
. . . in a small garden
    ‘Keeping everything clean is the most work, but it’s worth it,’ says Susannah about her family’s five hens. ‘The chickens are pets. They recognize the sound of the car and welcome us when we come home – they also produce nice eggs.’
    Susannah, her husband David and sons Matthew (fifteen) and Thomas (eleven) have been keeping chickens for two years. Living on a modern estate,they were concerned whether their garden would be large enough and took time investigating the possibilities. They gained experience by helping look after friends’ chickens, and found local suppliers along with trade stands at country shows to be valuable sources of information.
    Their attractive patio garden is just 10 x 8.5 m, but the chickens have a spacious run, covered in hardwood chips. A raised chicken house makes the best use of the space.
    Trees and shrubs create shady spots, ideal for dust-baths. The result is an unexpected and delightful feature, which fits perfectly into the small garden.
    The run is dug out and the ground sanitized every three months – more often in very wet weather. The 3 x 3.5 m run takes three 75-litre sacks of hardwood chips.
    Susannah says there is no smell if the run is kept clean. Droppings are removed and sanitizer put down most days. Extra woodchips are added if the ground starts becoming muddy.
    The house is cleaned with an antibacterial spray twice a week, but the droppings tray and nest-boxes are cleaned daily in summer and most days in winter.
    The chickens are regularly wormed and are given apple cider vinegar to promote good health. They also enjoy surplus vegetables from the family’s allotment, where all their waste material is composted.

    Susannah and family with their hens
    In return for the care lavished on them, the hens provide around twenty eggs a week in season. These are mainly laid by the Black Rock and Light Sussex Hybrid. The three bantams (Pekins and a New Hampshire Red) only manage an egg a day between them and stop laying altogether in winter.
    ‘There are definite benefits to having chickens,’ Susannah says. ‘They all have