Urban Chicken

ch2008

Hey,
I'm moving into an apartment soon but it has a roof garden. I wanted to buy an Eglu to keep some chickens (see link http://www.omlet.co.uk/products_services/products_services.php?view=Chickens) but they dont deliver to Ireland. Any ideas where I can buy a chicken that quiet, easy to keep and gives eggs.
And yes, I know nothing about farming or chickens or anything else like that. Any help greatly appreciated!!

ravima

try the rare breed survival trust. they have details of the rare breeds and if you are a mamber, they send a magazine every so often where there are various firms selling ARKS.

a simple one is to make two triangles of timber, then have three straight lengths of woodlinking the corners of the triangles, then cover the entire with chicken wire. It is light to carry and you could keep them in that.

biggest problem with keeping them in urban area, is that neighbours might not be happy with the noise and once they lay, they make noise!

good luck

ch2008

Well, I was only really planning on having one chicken and it will be on the roof. How much noise can one chicken make?

ravima

its not right to keep just one chicken. They are flock birds and you should certainly have two at a minimum and I woud suggest 3

daithicarr

my neighbours have chickens they live two houses over in a semi detached neighbour hood, they can make quite a noise especially the bloody cockerel. many a hung over morning i have thought about shooting him (the chicken not my neighbour) , i can only imagine the noise would be worse in an appartment block ,

kerrysgold

You really need at least 2 preferably 3 (so there will still be a pair if one hen dies) it is cruel to keep 1 hen alone.
also, you'll need to make some sort of grassy area so the hens can "dust bath" .... realistically, do you think it's a good idea to keep hens on a roof garden?!