Chicken keeping is now one of the fastest growing hobbies in the UK.  One reason is that chickens make lovely and placid family pets as well as representing a major potential saving on the housekeeping budget. Keeping chickens is also profitable because believe it or not, each chicken you keep (after feeding) can save you [...]

Ideas-4-pets are constantly asked how big a chicken coop should be and how much space a chicken needs to be comfortable and healthy. There are no strict guidelines laid down at the present time so it is always difficult to give such advise.  We tend to give the guidelines of the supplier and also the guidelines [...]

A customer rang me at ideas-4-pets the other day and said he was wanting to keep a few chickens as he’d seen the programmes on TV advocating fresh eggs and the welfare of chickens and he wanted to teach his son some responsibilities involved in pet owning without having to invest in a dog or cat. I advised him [...]

The hen house will be used by your chickens for roosting, laying, and shelter and the welfare of your chickens is entirely in your hands so it’s important that certain principles should be observed before purchasing. ideas-4-pets recommend that the minimum floor area of the chicken coop should be a minimum of approx. 1 square foot [...]

I read in a magazine the other day that, because some people will stoop to anything for easy money, chicken keepers are currently being warned to beware of thefts.   And I don’t mean by Mr. Fox !!   Apparently, high prices for some chickens have made them a good catch for thieves and chickens are being stolen from their [...]

Foxes can be a pain if you are keeping chickens.  No chicken coop is 100% fox proof but you should always do your best to purchase one that is almost 100% !! I have been reading in various magazines what other people have done to try and solve the problem.  One gentleman housed his small small flock [...]

The poultry red mite is an external parasite that is commonly found on birds.  It is very small but  can just about be seen by the naked eye.  The red mite actually belongs to the spider family and it has an unsegmented body and 8 legs.  These little red mites feed on the blood of chickens. [...]

Just like all other domesticated animals,  chickens have certain basic needs that should be adequately catered for if the animals are to have an acceptable quality of life. For instance, they need to have access to adequate shelter in the form of a good quality chicken coop.   The coop should be large enough to accommodate their needs and a [...]

If you haven’t kept chickens before you will find them interesting characters to watch both in their chicken coop and in the their chicken run. Did you know that a hen is called a “broody” when she’s raising her chicks. You will see her offering protection to her brood, teaching the chicks to find food [...]

Chicken keeping has had huge media hype recently with famous chef’s appearing on TV programmes and also writing articles in newspapers.  It seems that more and more people are now choosing to keep their own hens, which is great.  But before rushing out and purchasing some chickens we at ideas-4-pets advise you to read up on [...]