Keeping Chickens for Fresh Eggs in Your Garden

Why a few hens earn their keep

There's something quietly satisfying about walking down the garden path in the morning and finding still-warm eggs in the nest box. Three or four hens are plenty for a household, and well-kept hybrids will give you around 250–300 eggs a year each. They also turn garden waste into compost, scratch up pests and produce the finest manure on the smallholding.

They aren't free eggs, mind. Expect to spend £300–£400 in the first year on a coop, feeders and birds, then roughly £25–£35 a month on feed. That still beats the supermarket on flavour, and once you've eaten an egg with a deep orange yolk, laid that morning, it's hard to go back.

Choosing your first hens

Buy point-of-lay pullets in spring: 16–22 weeks old, vaccinated, and likely to start laying within a few weeks. Hybrids such as the Warren, Speckledy or Bluebelle are bred for reliability and lay well for two or three seasons. Pure breeds like the Light Sussex or Orpington lay fewer eggs but are sturdier and often go broody.

• Buy at least three. Chickens are flock animals, and a lone hen will be miserable.
• See the birds before you buy. Look for bright eyes, a clean vent and no wheezing.
• Think twice about ex-commercial rescues as your first flock — lovely birds, but they often arrive with health problems.

Check the rules first: some tenancy agreements, deeds and allotment committees restrict poultry, and cockerels are usually a firm no in built-up areas.

The coop and the run

Space matters more than style. Allow roughly 25cm of perch per bird inside and one nest box per four hens. The house needs ventilation above head height, but no draught at perch level. Whatever you buy, fox-proof it properly: use 16-gauge welded mesh, not flimsy chicken wire, and bury it 45cm deep or lay a skirt outward at ground level.

A covered run of 1–2 square metres per bird is the minimum; a few hours of free ranging in the garden is better still. A movable run on the vegetable plot works beautifully — the hens clear the ground and fertilise it in a season. Keep the coop dry, with a deep litter of wood shavings turned weekly, and clean nest boxes often, because hens lay best where they feel safe.

Feeding and watering

Feed a good layers' pellet at 16–17% protein — about 120g per bird per day — and don't scatter it on the ground. A treadle feeder keeps rats out and waste down. Keep a separate hopper of mixed poultry grit and crushed oyster shell so the hens help themselves; grit grinds food in the crop, and shell provides the calcium for strong eggshells.

Fresh water in a clean drinker every day is non-negotiable, and matters far more than any treat. Garden greens, a little cabbage, a handful of corn on cold evenings and mealworms for bribery all work well. Skip dairy, salty or mouldy food, and avoid kitchen scraps altogether — feeding catering waste to poultry is restricted under UK animal by-product rules and simply isn't worth the risk.

Health, moulting and the honest bits

Chickens are tough, but they do get problems. The two to watch for are red mite, which hide in coop crevices and suck blood at night, and internal worms. Strip and treat the coop with a poultry-safe mite powder in warm weather, and ask your vet about a worming programme if birds are kept on the same ground year after year.

Expect an annual moult in late summer or autumn, when laying stops for six to eight weeks while they grow a new coat — feed a little extra protein then. Hens also lay fewer eggs in winter as daylight shortens; gentle artificial light can keep production going, though many smallholders let them rest and accept the seasonal lull.

Keepers with 50 or more birds must register with the Great Britain poultry register; below that it's voluntary but sensible. Learn the signs of a poorly hen — fluffed up, hunched, sitting apart from the flock — and act quickly. Find a vet who treats poultry before you need one.

The daily round, and the eggs

Twice a day is plenty. Let them out and check feed and water in the morning, then shut them in at dusk with a headcount. It takes ten minutes, and it's the most enjoyable part of the day.

Collect eggs daily and don't wash them — the natural bloom protects the shell. Store them pointy-end down somewhere cool, use them within about three weeks, and date the boxes so you eat the oldest first. Always wash your hands after handling the birds.

Start with three hens, a sound coop and a decent feeder, and you'll wonder why you waited so long. The eggs are the bonus; the rhythm of feeding, collecting and watching them scratch through the borders is what makes a small flock genuinely worth keeping.