eelgarden Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Hi all, We’ve been thinking about getting chickens for a while now and been following the posts and reading up about chickens and it sounds great! However, we still can’t decide if to go for it. We have an end of terrace house with a reasonable size garden but are quite overlooked by neighbours etc. We’re only thinking of having about four chooks but we’re still worried about the smell and possible noise that some people mention on here. Are chickens really that noisy? We get on well with our neighbours and the last thing we would want is angry people knocking at the door and moaning. Any advice would great. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_H Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Hi I think the best thing to do is to visit someone else and judge noise, smell for yourselves. I'm sure someone on here will volunteer soon - or go to one of the Hen Parties. H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moochoo Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Chicken keeping is very rewarding. Yes chickens can smell, if they are not kept clean and they do make some noise mainly during and post egg laying. I would sound out your neighbours first and see if they would be ok with the idea. Despite a few possible 'negatives' on the whole chicken keeping is fantastic. They make friendly and fun pets. The eggs are the best and they help out with the gardening too! It may be worth booking onto a Hen Party and seeing some chooks in a home set up to help you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 I agree, I think a visit to someone with an Eglu (there is a section on this forum for that) or a Hen Party is a good idea. I have 4 hens but in a large garden - more hens = more poo = more noise etc. Mine are quiet 99% of the day, but when they lay an egg or set off an alarm call, the noise is amazing. If you are overlooked and close to your neighbours then I think having good neighbours is the key to sucessful hen keeping. Noise/smell etc have been recently discussed on this post. http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28613 Please don't be discourged by this, hens really are very easy pets to keep and I love mine, but going and seeing some would help you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eelgarden Posted August 4, 2008 Author Share Posted August 4, 2008 Thank you for the advise, i think i'm going to have to track down a party and see from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egg Lou Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Hi! Not sure where in Hampshire you are, but you are welcome to come and see my hens if it helps? I have a smallish garden which is overlooked by neighbours, I have a cube and four hens plus 4 chicks.. so a fair amount of poo produced! no smell as I keep on top of poo picking garden which takes minutes and not much noise at all. I certainly recommend them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Visit someone or go to a Hen Party. Have a dekko at the **Courses Page** on the main website. Welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surrey_chickens Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 You can mitigate the chicken smells by putting things in their water such as garlic etc We have 2 chickens and they hardly smell at all. Maybe occasionally if poo has been left in the hot sun but it's easily cleaned up. They are noisy very early on in the day in summer ie before 7am if they are allowed out of their cage whenever they want. We're experimenting with keeping them in the dark (we don't have an eglu so don't know how dark it gets for them in one) until 7am and collecting the eggs at 745! Today they were really quiet but missed the nest by a fair margin! You either find their noise cute or annoying. We and our neighbours, currently(!), find it cute! Keeping chickens is a delightful pasttime. They're easy to look after really, very rewarding (eggs/cuteness/theraputic effect), cheap(after initial outlay), kids love them, the eggs are useful for presents when visiting friends/family and they eat all the food (except meat and chicken!) that you'll throw away otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surferdog Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 You definitely need to go and have a look at some otherwise the amount of poo produced (if nothing else) would come as an almighty shock. I spent the first few weeks thinking I'd made a horrible mistake - mainly because my lot were working their way through the A - Z of things that can go wrong with chickens. I'd researched it all and expected it but just not in the first 4 weeks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandychick Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 We have an end of terrace house with a reasonable size garden but are quite overlooked by neighbours etc. It sound simular to mine, although the gardens here are 160ft long. I've given the chickens a section of the garden to themselves well away from the house. I never hear mine from the house and neither do the neighbours to their surprise! It does of course depend on the layout of your garden, but if they can have a fenced off area to themselves away from the house this keeps all the poo in one place and any noise away from neighbours windows. My chickens have never set foot on my lawn or the veggie area and I'm really pleased because it's all intact and poo free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SusannenoZ Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 I would agree with all the other posts, go see some in a garden for yourself,I hope you go for it, I have been keeping them for about 2 and a half years now, and I only have one regret, not having them years ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollymo Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 I cant understand why people don't like the sound of nature but listen to screaming kids and barking dogs all day. and alarms going off. As for smell my freind used jeyes fluid in her stables, can that be used to clean chicke pens out, as it smells really strong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scramble Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 I live quite a way in the countryside, there are my neighbours on either side of me but beyond my garden is just fields, some with cows in! Though before I decided to get my chickens I talked things through with my neighbours, especially the ones that have a year old baby(!) and they said they were sure it would be fine! They even said that the'd be delighted to look after them if we went away on holiday! Good luck with your decision, I hope you get chickens, and although I can't actually comment on them (yet!) I'm sure they're wonderful. I completly obsessed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Libby May Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 I have 4 chooks, and ours arn't noisy. You can only hear them when you're in that part of the garden. the smell is not that bad, only really, when you open the indoor eglu bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 The smell is only really noticable if you dont clean out the run or poo pick and then it smells a bit farm yardy ish! Noise is almost nothing-unless their spooked then it can get a bit noisy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
