Emma Butcher

My chickens keep me sane and have helped me through really tough times.....
I never realised that these funny little creatures could have such a therapeutic affect on me.

After suffering a massive pulmanary embolism to both lungs which resulted in my heart failing last August I was, needless to say at the age of 34... gutted!! But after a long stint in hospital my chickens and ducks even kept the girls on the ward smiling!! I amused them with tales of my Drake that fancies my chihuahua and my Poland cockerel that looks like Rod Stewart! My tales kept all of them smiling and earned me the name chicken Mad Emm.

Once I was allowed home from hospital and reunited with my family I could not wait to waddle outside to see my girls, and was greeted by my seven large fowl running at top speed down the garden to greet me (my clumsy exchequer leghorn stumbling as usual).

My cup of tea in a comfy outside chair was the highlight of my day as i could see my poultry and tell them my worries without feeling guilty for alarming them. Even now the girls i've kept in touch with still ask me how my birds are.

Although i am unwell again now due to a relapse i know my girls are there as a release and escape if needed!! They bring joy and companionship to people who really need it so never discount poultry as a wonderful pet and hobby.

Patsy Booth

Fiona Edwards

I started keeping chickens in June 2012, after a speaker at the local horticultural society talked of his experience and encouraged everyone to keep at least a couple of hens in their garden. I had 3 to start with, though as many chicken keepers will tell you, you soon become besotted with these endearing creatures and inevitably end up increasing your flock!

I like the fact I know my hens are happy and healthy and they provide us with many eggs. It is also a fantastic experience for my children.... from holding and feeding them to watching the change from egg to chick to maturity. They are not so keen on the cleaning out though!

I have 8 hens; 3 Light Sussex cross bantams (Elsie, Chatty, Harry), 2 Araucanas (Wendy and Henry), 2 RIR bantams (Sadie and Britt), 1 Star hybrid (Starla) All girls despite the 'boys' names! Elsie is top hen, a Light Sussex/Silkie cross. She is broody as regular as clockwork - 3 weeks on, 3 weeks off. She is a wonderfully feisty character in her 'bloomers' and has taught me so many things about keeping chickens. Wing clipping, breaking the egg-eating habit, incubating eggs under a broody and raising a chick. You soon get to recognise who's who, not just by their look but also by the different sounds each make and their personalities.

As I said, Elsie is a feisty girl and we have had occasional battle of wills! I'm sure she thinks she is also superior to me as she often ignores what I want her to do and does it her way - which usually turns out to be the right way! When I tried to keep her and the one chick (the other 11 eggs failed) safe by enclosing her in a run within the run, she kept finding ways to get them both out and I would find them at large in the garden! I gave up and took down the enclosure and everything was fine!

The newest girl to the flock, Starla, came to us by default! A neighbour came to the door to tell me one of my chickens was out in the road! I ran out to find it wasn't one of mine, but no way could I leave her to the mercy of the traffic, dogs or anything else! After an hour or trying to catch her and eventually enlisting the help of the local pet shop owner/chicken enthusiast, we managed to corner her and he took her back to his shop while the owner was traced. She laid a couple of beautiful large white eggs but then had a prolapse. We decided to let her rest for a week or so and though I put up many posters etc no-one came forward to claim her. I eventually brought her home and she settled in quickly with my girls. After a week she was laying again, and several egg laying weeks later, she hasn't prolapsed, though I will continue to monitor her.

Cons: Absolutely no cons - well apart from having to get up early in the morning to let them out and the sad duty of dealing with the demise of your hen.

Pros: Too many to mention! Mainly for me is the entertainment! Hen-watching is such a great pastime. A fantastic education for my children. Plus, of course, delicious eggs!

Advice: Try to visit someone who is already a hen keeper, to see their set up and get advice from. Also, do plenty of research into the most suitable coop for you - bear in mind you may soon get bitten by the chicken bug and get more! - and before your hens arrive, make sure you are as fox/predator proof as possible. Research chickens! Try to find the best for your requirements - I have a friend whose hens quickly grew too large for his set up as he hadn't realised how big they would get! Also, one of my first girls is constantly broody which wasn't something I checked when I was looking for hens. And try to get your chickens from a good source - my first 3 came with a dubious age and 2 with scaly leg mite. However, they were soon fine after treatment and still with me after nearly 3 years. Ideally, a first timer shouldn't have to face problems from the outset.

Bryony Holden

I had a 40 foot fox-proof run which used to be for rescue and rehab of wild owls. When it was no longer needed (the bird intake moved to other premises) I decided to start with chookies. Ive had burford browns, speckledies, goldline and white star and cannot imagine life chookless. I mean, what other pet makes you breakfast ? My hen is a mouser too! Has anyone else got one that catches and eats mice ? It was initially for a few eggs but they are such entertainers, I now consider the eggs as an added bonus.

Mine are in a 40 foot fox-proofrun with a semi covered and wire roof. Inside the run they have a range of perches of varying heights and positions, and an eglu go up which some hate, some love, some just go in to lay. They are free ranging when I'm home

I only keep a couple at a time and their names are usually old fashioned like Betsy, Lucy, Matilda. However, my current goldline favourite is Bouddica and she suits it well... Boudicca is a mouser! I was stunned to see her race across the garden and next I knew, there was a little mouse wriggling in her beak. She ripped it to shreds and ate it before I got to her. She wasn't hungry, she isn't short on protein .. stunning !

Pros: Eggs! Entertainment. Cuddles

Cons: There are non as far as i'm concerned!

Advice: Get hens! Get Happy!

Sophie Hunter, UK

What got me into chickens?  Well that would be the animal house my high school used to have, it's also where my first 2 ever chickens come from. 2 tiny utterly beautiful black tailed white Japanese banties, originally called Nono & Ellen (I named them Gretchen & Matilda). I was told by my teacher they were going to be put to sleep as they were too old (aged 4) to breed. so I paid him £5 and took them away. Aged 8 they incubated eggs for me & gave me 4 chicks. aged 11 I got another 2 chicks incubated. These chicks became my flock. after being told they were useless aged 4 they lived another 6 1/2 (Gretchen) & 7 years (Matilda). they introduced me into the wonderful world of chickens.

Victoria King

My backyard has turned into the site of a major soap opera, with Milly turning into super-hero chicken. Clara has been pulling some shenanigans, and had to be moved away from the other Littles for their safety. So while Milly and Madeleine were out free-ranging yesterday (Harriet is still inside, recovering from a broken foot), I put Clara in THEIR yard to exercise. Milly and Madeleine came back toward the entrance of their yard, and Clara decided to STRUT toward them like a rooster. She eyed them both, and then decided to JUMP Madeleine (who is at the absolute TOP of the pecking order)! She knocked poor Madeleine on her butt, because she totally was not expecting one of the Littles to dare to do something like that. Milly saw it, got SUPER ANNOYED, and jumped on Clara, pulling her off of Madeleine. Milly then proceeded to whoop Clara's butt, until Clara got away, running across the yard with Milly hot on her tail. NOBODY messes with Milly's best friend.

Madeleine is queen. Thankfully, she is very fair-minded, and does not bully. She simply puts chickens in their place, and is done with it. Because of that, everyone seems to love her.

I named most of my chickens after old women I loved when I was growing up. I used to be a very shy child, but one who wanted to brighten the older women's day. So I would often sneak flowers (out of my Mom's garden) to older women's doors. They all remember me for that. So I began to name each chicken after a special older woman in my childhod.

Harriet was our first chicken, bought from a farm where her bum feathers, right down to the vertebrae, had been eaten by the other chicks. She is the smallest of our entire flock, despite her breed (splash blue laced red wyandotte). She is sweet with us, and her best friend is Madeleine. But she is a stinker. She likes to tease Madeleine, and she will put the LARGEST chicken, Milly, in her place. She has a jealous bone, is very talkative, and looks like a perfectly round, feathered basketball.

Most of my chickens will follow me around like dogs when they are loose in the yard. My mother can sit down and call them all by name, and each one will come up to her, ready to be picked up and baby-talked to. Sometimes they gather around her, vying for her attention. My mother had chickens in the 40s and 50s while growing up on the farm, but even her pet chicken Fluffy ended up on the dinner table. Now she has a chance to love without fear of that, because my chickens are our pets.

Milly once got out of the chicken yard, and flew INTO my dog's yard. My heart stopped when I walked out the door and saw her standing at the bottom of the steps, wit my dog Hattie sitting on the deck. Hattie is over-exuberant with the chickens, and I could not believe she had not accidentally hurt Milly. I could tell there had been SOME sort of incident, as a big water bucket was knocked over. My guess is that Milly did what she had done to Hattie at other times when Hattie got too close - pecked her HARD right between the eyes. Nobody really messes with Milly (except Harriet, the little round chicken, who is half her size and has 100X the attitude).

Jan L'Argent, UK

When I retired I realised I could do something that my mother did in keeping hens.  We always had chickens but the one I remember is the pet chicken that I called Penny and used to come to the back door for treats.  It isn't just that they give us beautiful eggs but that they are great little characters, funny and so endearing in their ways. I've had hens for 2 years now, they are my pets, they all have names and I love them very much some even like a cuddle! I've lost a couple and it broke my heart but you never stop learning but one of the most important things is that I have made friends because of the hens.

I wanted to have really fresh eggs and on the side of economy I rarely have to buy eggs.  My hens are well cared for and not in cages, they are kept clean and have room to fly, which they're usually too lazy to bother with. I can't bear the thought of hens kept in cages where they have no room to move, where they are pecked by their too close neighbours and are considered 'past it' by the age of 2 and sent for meat unless they are lucky enough to be rescued.

I have 2 runs, 7 share a 2 x 4 metre run, they have a converted garden shed for a coop because I find purpose built runs too difficult to clean (I have arthritis in my spine).  It is well sealed against draughts, has nest boxes and a perch.  Their kiln dried sand on the floor to which I occasionally add diatomaceous earth - they use it for dust bathing but it also really easy to keep clean.  They have hemp bedding because it is so absorbent and easy to clean out as well.  Their run has hard wood chip on the floor and is changed every 3 months or so and when someone is home we let them have the run of the garden, which upsets my other half as they decimate his veg beds!  The other run has 3 girls but is similarly set up but smaller and they have an ark not a shed, I take the roof off to clean it out.

There are 10 in number, 2 Speckledy's, 1 Bluebelle the rest are hybrid crosses of Copper Black Maran, Cream Legbar and Skyline.  They are all named after British Queens and Queen Consorts because one of my first hens was a lovely coppery red/brown with creamy feather mixed in around the neck which I thought looked like an Elizabethan ruff so she was called Elizabeth.  Sadly she died from mycoplasmosis. I now have Eleanor, Caroline, Matilda (who strictly speaking called herself Empress), Margaret, known as Meggie, Guinevere, Isabelle, Anne, Katherine, Jane and Boudicca, clled Boo for short.  Annie likes to cuddle as does Matilda.  The 2 Speckledy's are just gannets and very noisy especially when it comes to telling the whole village that an egg has been laid!  All the little cross breeds are less biddable and prefer not to be handled but once they have been picked up they tolerate it except for Meggie whole give you a nasty bruise with her beak!  Oddly she is bottom of the pecking order but is not bullied.  Katherine is also bottom of the pecking order in her run.

Pros are fresh eggs, friends (both hens and people) and always having a talking point.

Cons are it's expensive to get your set up, keeping it clean is less so but is time consuming, feed is relatively cheap but good quality food is worth it.  If you live in an urban area getting a good poultry vet is difficult.  Losing a hen is very hard, it's as bad as your dog/cat dying. Going on holiday is difficult unless there is someone you trust to care as much as you do.

You may have to deal with the horrific result of fox invasion or even buzzard and sparrowhawk. You have to be prepared to deal with mice/rats if they crop up.

Advice? It is not cheap or easy so think hard before you jump in. Do a backyard chicken course. Research breeds, some lay better, some are noisy others less so. some may be more prone to disease. Consider taking ex-batts they will lay for several more years, are well domesticated and will give the pleasure of knowing that you gave them freedom from cages and a longer life.

There are so many little things but I'll never forget the day I met Matilda walking down the road when returning with the dog from a walk. Thankfully, we live in a village and a cul-de-sac but we do get traffic. I was horrified that I could have lost her but it was hilarious watching my blue/grey hen happily strolling along and picking up tidbits from the neighbours hedges!  She'd flown over 2 garden gates to get out so I've never let them free range unattended again!

Cally Day

I've always wanted to live in the country with chickens and when we moved to the country we bought some from a breeder, and like most things in our life we did some basic research and winged the rest. They do what they want and teach everyone else, child, dogs, cats, ducks. They are in charge of this household. I love them silly and of course my top dog (or hen) is like a little puppy who follows me everywhere. Tracey likes cuddles and falls asleep in my arms.

They're fantastic for fresh eggs, my girls lay all year round and their house waste I use for fertiliser.

We have four girls:

Tracey. Copper Moran, she's top dog and my favourite, very cheeky, always wants to see me and come into the house bringing Courtney with her. We have regular intellectual conversations about life and things. Crazy out of control free ranging serial stealers of hearts and givers of laughs!

Courtney. Copper Moran who's very tame, quiet, doesn't cause any dramas.

Babs. Purple Haze, she's a lot like Courtney, just bocks around minding her own business.

Carmen. A Black crow looking thing who comes out daily for food then straight back to bed to pretend she's hatching chicks! She's the moody broody pecker!

They make me happy. Every morning when I open the door they come running up the garden to see me! Chickens running is hillarious! Relax, they're easy to keep and easy to train.

Red, UK

Milly and Eva especially were very tame, to the point where Milly would climb inside my jumper for a cuddle and both would come when I called their names!

I can't even begin to describe what an amazing girl Milly was. She was my shadow whenever I was in the garden and, often, in the house too! She passed away in 2010 and I still think about her every day.

This was my first cuddle when I got back from a few months at uni

Doris, Heworth

My son used to keep hens and ducks: Daffy, Donald and Micky. And then he had the hens but the fox got the whole lot. They used to come in the house - they used to come in and walk around. But the fox got them all - he got some more but it happened again, so that's when he gave up. He shot a fox once. He went to the police and asked if he was allowed and after that they said he was, so he got a gun and shot the fox. I couldn't do it but he did. He had a big garden and he just liked them, and the kids liked them. They used to pick them up and play with them - they were very tame.

Meg, 54, Whitley Bay

My mother-in-law lives with us. She is 90 and talked lots about her memories with her grandma's hens. She loved the sounds and the smells and encouraged me to think about getting hens - so last March off we went to Durham Hens, my mother-in-law and a two year old!! We came home with 4 hens - "Angela" (named by the two year old), "Nessie" named for my mother-in-law's grandma, "Ethel" and "Goggins". My mother-in-law is now not so keen on the smells so I do the cleaning and she collects the eggs!!!

Joyce, Pelaw

They're lovely. When we decided to get the hens we got them in a hut outside. They let us handle them and we love them. We have two cages now. In Wood Green Gateshead. We have two or three men who clean up and they're great. They've all got a name the hens, Doreen, Pam and Jenny....