moggins
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City Chickens - Help pleaseI apologise if this is a really stupid question but I haven't owned chickens since I was 10.
I want to get some chickens for egg laying (I'm not hardened enough to slaughter them) I have a large garden but it's not completely secure so I would have to keep them in a large run too.
However a friend (who knows naff all about chickens) has said that living in a terraced house in the city I may have to get permission from my local council first. This seems strange as we have a city farm directly behind us.
Can anyone confirm whether this is true or not please?
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Bugs
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If you own your house it's quite unlikely; very occasionally I've heard of covenenants that might restrict livestock etc and I expect your deeds will say that.
Of course you'll be subject to usual nuisance laws etc (cleanliness, noise, keeping them out of the neighbours gardens) but I'm sure that won't be a problem.
If you rent though, it is quite likely your contract will say no animals - but you might be able to convince the landlord otherwise.
Basically you I doubt you will need permission from the council unless they're your landlords; they'll either have forbidden it, or not. Worth a quiet phone call of course, but again, take care, you might get some idiot who wouldn't know a chicken if it bit him assuming the same thing as your friend so it may take some perserverance.
All this is assuming you won't have over 350 or whatever is the threshold for registering a flock!
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Bugs
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Re: City Chickens - Help please | moggins wrote: | | I apologise if this is a really stupid question but I haven't owned chickens since I was 10. |
PS I'd like to borrow a guideline from the MSE site - there's no such thing as a stupid question here 
If there is, you can guarantee I'll be asking them too 
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moggins
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LOL, I was thinking more along the lines of 4 or 5 
We do own our house and I've got the deeds which were well read due to a parking problem with our neighbours and there's nothing in there about not keeping livestock.
Looks like all I have to do is build them a house (too poor to buy one of those £200 jobbies) and find out where to get some straight forward good laying hens from then.
Thank you.
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Mrs Fiddlesticks
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as well as all the advice above, I might also suggest having a quiet word with your neighbours just to let them know that you intend to keep a couple of backyard hens. That's of course if they're nice - the neighbours that is - all chickens are nice!
Thats what we did, I had a quiet word with my neighbours either side of me and said I was intending to keep chickens. They were fine with it, though one said no cockerells ( which we've respected, it wasn't on the wish list anyways) and I've made sure to keep them sweet with a few boxes of eggs. Then if my girls get a little over enthusiastic about being a chicken then there are no complaints.
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moggins
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LOL, one of them moved in and immediately installed a 6 foot fence and the other one likes to make sure I can't get my car out so maybe this is time for revenge
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Gertie
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Hi moggins -
Our neighbours are good, however parking in our street is a nightmare - we are in the middle of a terrace, we have built a drive and paid the council a ridiculous amount for a drop down kerb, but still have idiots parking over the drive (even using our drive sometimes!!).
We are lucky that our allotment is at the back of our house, hidden by a tall fence (I say that from our neighbours point of view). I have told our neighbours we are getting hens and have had nothing but encouragement - mind you I am keeping them sweet by giving them some eggs. My feedroom is at the bottom of our garden and our next door neighbours didn't even mind when I used to hump 20 bales of hay from our drive (dumped by the farmer) through the alleyway between our houses. I Had a bit of hay to sweep up. Hay is now kept in a shed at the stable.
Incidentally, I have a copy of keeping a few hens in your garden by Francine Raymond, if you want a copy PM me and I'll send you a photocopy. Treacodactyl put me onto a couple of Katie Thear books about hens, which have been most useful.
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moggins
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We're in a terrace too Gertie, but we have rear access to our house with big double gates and a dropped kerb. My neighbour has a garage but kept my car blocked in for 6 months once 
Maybe I should get a cockerel too? 
I will pm you thanks
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Treacodactyl
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Is it possible to find out if anyone else has hens in your area, it may be a good guide to how people will react?
Chickens are very popular at the moment so I bet there are some about. Perhaps it would be worth finding somewhere local that sells chicken feed and ask them if they know of any reported problems?
RE the drive problems, I always thought the police are not interested but a bloke at work knows a policeman and they are always removing cars from the front of peoples drives.
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moggins
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I'm the only 'back to the earth' nut around here
LOL where our local police are concerned it takes them 4 days to attend to a burglary where you are actually sat on the criminal, I hate to think how long it would take them to unblock my drive
Never mind, I get by with my dreams of living in Wales with no neighbours for about 2 miles.
Not that I'm unsociable, just had enough of living in people's pockets, if you know what I mean.
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Treacodactyl
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As you'll need to find a feed place it may be worth asking them.
People seem to be the same round here.  I think we need to have a few counties set aside for smallholders and we can all move somewhere where people don't mind the odd animal, or the odd person.
Good luck with the hens, do you know what type you'll get?
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moggins
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Which ever ones I don't have to drive the farthest to get
I'm currently starting my research as to the best ones for me, this will probably go on till June when I expect the other half to have finished building them some accomodation.
Any suggestions would be very gratefully received.
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percypony
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I know very little about chickens but am learning fast!
We thought initially about keeping a couple of hens at home but decided the stable yard was better. We are so glad we did as our chickens are SO noisey!
I don't know if it is breed thing so it might be worth doing some research before upsetting the whole street as I wouldn't want a couple of my chickens living in my backyard!
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Tristan
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Moggins
The nearest place I know of for hens from you is the Domestic fowl trust near Evesham, quite pricey tho.
Alternatively these are from Practical poultry mag: Cotswold Farm Park Poultry 01451 860322, Fosters Poultry 01452 724565, Pondhouse Poultry 01386 882383.
Hope this helps
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moggins
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Tristan, thanks for that, Fosters Poultry has a Gloucester area code so it can't be too far from us.
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moggins
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Found it, and I know exactly where it is, it's in the lane where my nan used to live. Might take a wander up there next week when I've finished with all the workmen
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mrsnesbitt
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when I've finished with all the workmen
all of them?????
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moggins
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Yep
Gas man tomorrow, carpenter (doing the bits I find hard like hanging doors) Wednesday, Sky blokies connecting on Thursday and Telewest disconnecting on Friday.
And there probably won't be a good looking one amongst them
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Lozzie
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Wouldn't you credit it? My Chinese language student has gone to the beach this afternoon, else she could have helped me answer this one.
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Gertie
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I do not know anything about MP3, so cannot comment 
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Cathryn
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Less of the Welsh dreams I can't find one two miles from anyone and I live in Wales. Mind you I could probably touch my neighbours for a bit of financial help, I have such sweet softly spoken children cats that stay in our garden and dogs that don't know how to bark By tomorrow evening I am hoping that my chicken numbers will have gone up as well. So whats the trick - CARPENTERS?? I have spoken to them on the phone but what exactly do they look like?
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Lozzie
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(If anyone is curious, I have just asked my Chinese lodger and she tells me that the posting in Chinese is an advert for downloadable mobile-phone ring-tones.)
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judith
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Consider it gone!
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