Why a small flock suits a country garden

Few things settle a country garden like the low murmur of hens working their way along a hedge. Three or four birds will reward you with far more than breakfast. They turn kitchen scraps into eggs, scratch over weed seeds, break up the soil in a flower bed you were about to dig anyway, and deal with slugs and leatherjackets more patiently than any chemical. If you have a bit of grass, a secure boundary and somewhere dry to put a coop, you already have what you need.

Start small. Three hens is a sensible first flock: enough for company, few enough to handle if something goes wrong. Once you know how much time and money they actually take, you can add a couple more.

Housing, space and the fox question

Hens are small, but they are not tidy little ornaments. Think of the coop as a bedroom and the run as the sitting room, and give both proper proportions.

• Inside the coop: allow about 25cm of perch per bird, set at least 45cm off the floor and away from the walls, so they can face out and pass droppings behind them. A nest box roughly 30cm square serves three to five hens comfortably, lined with straw or wood shavings.
• Outside: a bare minimum of 1 square metre of run per bird, and much more is better. If the run is covered in, that minimum becomes closer to 2 square metres, because they never get to graze.
• Flooring: wood shavings or chopped straw, never hay, which goes mouldy and can cause respiratory trouble. Remove droppings weekly and do a full clean every couple of months.

Then there is the fox. In most parts of rural Britain you should assume one visits your garden within weeks of hearing your hens. Thin wire tacked to a wooden post will not stop it. Use weld mesh with apertures no larger than about 5cm, bury the skirt 30cm down or fold it outwards on the ground, and add a secure roof. Badgers, mink and buzzards will also take an interest, and a neighbour's terrier is not always as well mannered as you would hope. A bolt on the run door costs little and saves everything.

Feeding and watering without waste

Layers' pellets containing around 16 to 17 per cent protein should make up the bulk of the diet. Offer them in a hanging feeder with roughly 25cm of feeding space per bird, and keep it topped up rather than filling it to the brim, so stale food does not cake at the bottom. A supply of mixed grit and crushed oyster shell, kept separate and always available, helps digestion and keeps shells hard.

Scraps are a bonus, not a diet. Fruit, vegetable peelings, cooked rice and stale bread all go down well, but keep them to a small handful a bird in the late afternoon. Scatter a little mixed corn before dusk in cold weather; the birds burn it slowly overnight and it gives them something to scratch for while you shut them in.

Water matters more than food in hot weather. A heavy drinker that cannot be tipped over is worth the extra few pounds, and in a hard frost check it twice a day.

Routine health checks

Ten minutes of observation a week will catch most problems early. Pick each hen up now and then and go over her properly.

• Vent and feathers: clean, dry and free of lice. Red mite live in the coop, not on the bird, so examine perch ends and crevices for grey dust that turns red when smeared.
• Legs: raised, crusty scales mean scaly leg mite, treatable with a suitable oil or spray.
• Comb and eyes: bright and alert. A pale comb often points to worms or lice.
• Crop: should be full in the evening and empty in the morning. A sour or impacted crop needs attention quickly.
• Droppings: firm and brownish with a white cap. Blood or a watery green mess is a warning sign.

Worm your flock two or three times a year with a poultry-licensed wormer, and expect a moult each autumn, when egg numbers drop and the floor of the coop looks as though a pillow has burst. Hens rarely need a vet, but find one locally who will see poultry before you need them.

Rules, neighbours and the realities of rural keeping

In Great Britain, all poultry keepers must now register their flock with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, however few birds you have. It is free and takes a few minutes, and it means you are contacted directly if there is an outbreak of avian influenza nearby. During housing orders, birds usually have to be kept under cover, so plan a covered run from the start rather than improvising in a panic.

Check your tenancy or deeds for any covenant against livestock, and think about your neighbours. Hens are quietly companionable, but a cockerel crowing at four in the morning has ended more village friendships than any fence dispute. You do not need a cockerel for eggs, so unless you intend to breed, leave him out of your plans.

Get the basics right and a small flock will look after itself for years, scratching, laying and filling the garden with the sort of unhurried noise that makes a country morning feel complete.