What You Need to Keep Pet Hens: A Starter Checklist

Keeping a few hens is a practical, everyday sort of self-reliance, and the kit you need before they arrive is smaller than most people expect. The essentials are a ventilated, warm and dry coop with a litter-covered floor, perches and nest boxes, a run with at least 1 square metre per bird where possible, drinkers and feeders, a complete feed, and two separate things that are easy to confuse: insoluble grit and oyster shell¹. Plan for at least three hens, because chickens are social creatures and do better in a flock³.

The two rules that catch out new keepers are legal ones. It is illegal to feed kitchen scraps to chickens because of the risk of disease, and Defra banned feeding dead mealworms to chickens in 2014⁴. Neither is a matter of preference. Get those right, give the birds space and clean water, and most of the rest is routine.

This page is a checklist to work through before the hens arrive, followed by the detail on why each item matters, how to keep it ready, and what to do when a bird looks unwell. If you are still deciding whether hens suit your garden, the wider guide to keeping chickens covers housing, feeding and the law in more depth.

The checklist: what to have ready before your hens arrive

Work through this list before the birds come home. Each item has a few words on why it matters, and the sections below explain the detail.

1. A hen house or coop. It must be ventilated, warm and dry, with a litter-covered floor, plenty of space, places to perch and nest boxes for laying hens². Check it is in good repair and weather tight before winter⁶.
2. Bedding and floor substrate. Cover the floor with dry material such as wood shavings or straw so the hens can forage, rest and dustbathe, and top it up or replace it when needed⁵.
3. A run or enclosure. Allow a minimum of 1 sq m per caged hen or 2 sq m per barn or free-range hen, and more space is better³. Newly rehomed hens need an enclosure around the coop at first so they learn where to eat, drink and go to bed⁷.
4. Nest boxes. At least one box per five hens, with a minimum of two for any group size, each at least 30x30x30cm, draught-free and lined with clean, dry nesting material¹.
5. Perches. Enough space for all the birds to roost at the same time, from 15cm per chicken, with a height of 40cm so they feel safe and pecking is reduced⁵.
6. Drinkers. Hens need constant access to clean, fresh water in the chicken house, and purpose-made chicken drinkers stop young chicks climbing in and drowning⁵.
7. Feeders. Clean food dispensers regularly, and give the same drinker type the birds are used to when you change equipment⁵.
8. A complete feed. Choose a complete food rather than a mixed one, so the feed contains all the necessary nutrients, and store it in a cool, secure and dry place¹.
9. Insoluble grit. Hens have no teeth, so they need hard flint grit to grind and digest their food¹.
10. Oyster shell. A soluble grit that provides extra calcium, particularly important for laying hens for stronger eggshells¹.
11. A supply of food and bedding in reserve. Keep enough in case you cannot get to the shops, and store it somewhere safe from damp and pests⁶.
12. A poultry-friendly vet's number. Have it to hand before you need it, because heatstroke and other problems need advice quickly⁸.

Coop, run and feed: the three things to get right

Most of the money and most of the mistakes go on these three. Get them right and the rest of the list falls into place.

The coop. Pet chickens live outside in coops, and what they need is a ventilated, warm and dry house with a litter-covered floor, plenty of space, food and water, places to perch and nest boxes for laying hens to lay eggs². Space is the figure people underestimate: housing of at least 1m² should be provided per bird where possible, and if that is not possible, birds should be stocked at no more than three per m² of coop¹. Nest boxes follow the same logic, at least one per five hens with a minimum of two whatever the group size, each at least 30x30x30cm, draught-free and lined with clean, dry nesting material¹. Perches need enough room for every bird to roost at once, from 15cm per chicken, with a height of 40cm⁵. Clean and disinfect the coop regularly to remove parasites¹.

The run. Allow a minimum of 1 sq m per caged hen or 2 sq m per barn or free-range hen, and the more space you can offer the better³. Hens from other farming systems need a minimum of 2 square metres per bird, plus ideally the chance to free range⁷. If your hens will be free-range most of the time, there should still be some kind of enclosure around the coop when they are first rehomed, so they become "homed" and learn where to eat, drink and go to bed⁷. A wooden coop with a small run attached is not suitable for chickens, as they need much more space⁷.

The feed. Choose a complete food rather than a mixed one, so the feed contains all the necessary nutrients, and store it in a cool, secure and dry place to stop it going off or spoiling¹. Hens eat more in colder months to generate body heat, so expect the bag to go down in winter².

Grit and oyster shell keep hens digesting and laying

These two are sold in similar bags and do different jobs, so it is worth understanding both before you shop. Chickens do not have teeth. They need insoluble grit, such as hard flint grit, to grind and digest their food in the gizzard¹. Oyster shell is a soluble grit that provides extra calcium, and it matters particularly for laying hens because it helps build stronger eggshells¹.

The timing for oyster shell is specific: from four weeks before laying commences, oyster shell or limestone grit should be provided ad lib to help with egg shell formation⁹. In practice that means having it in the coop before the hens come into lay, not after you notice thin shells.

Offer both, and do not treat one as a substitute for the other. A hen that cannot grind its food will not thrive however much calcium it gets, and a hen with plenty of grit but no calcium source will lay weaker shells. Keep the bags dry and covered, and top up the containers rather than letting them run empty.

Kitchen scraps are illegal to feed to chickens

This is the rule that surprises almost everyone who kept hens as a child. It is illegal to feed kitchen scraps to your chickens because of the risk of disease¹. The law is stricter than it once was, following the Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001, which was caused by cross-species feeding⁴.

Hens are not waste disposal units. They should not be fed bread, which can ferment in the crop and cause sour crop, nor potato peelings⁴. If you want to give them greens, particularly in winter when there is not enough grass, hang up cabbage stalks, nettles or brussels sprout plants in the hut, or a swede cut in half and impaled on a blunted nail driven into a block of wood. Those greens must not come from your kitchen: they should have been bought purely for feeding stock and stored separately⁹.

The same principle applies to dead mealworms. Defra announced a ban on feeding dead mealworms to chickens in 2014, because most dead mealworms are imported and may have come into contact with, or been fed, animal protein that could potentially pass on disease⁴. The ban does not apply to live insects, insect fats and oils⁴.

Space, grass and the run through the year

A run does not stay the same through the year, and the two extremes, wet and hot, each need a plan.

Mud and bare ground. A static run can very quickly become either a sea of mud or bare of vegetation, so make it larger than the recommended minimum or divide it into two and rest one side⁹. Where grass does grow, keep it short, because long strands can become trapped in the chickens' digestive system⁵. Provide overhead cover, dry soil for dust bathing and foraging, and sheltered outdoor food and water to avoid attracting rodents and wild birds⁵. A net or solid plastic roof over the run is preferable, to deter wild birds from defecating near your poultry⁹.

Heat. In hot weather, watch for the signs of heatstroke: open mouth breathing, wings and legs outstretched, reduced appetite and egg production, and staggering or falling over¹⁰. If you suspect heatstroke, call a poultry-friendly vet immediately for advice¹⁰. Moving outdoor enclosures into shade, creating extra shade and keeping air flowing are the practical measures for small outdoor pets¹¹.

Winter. Hens sleep more in winter to conserve energy and are generally less active during the day, and they eat more in colder months to generate body heat². Egg laying is naturally higher in spring and summer and slows in autumn unless the birds are selectively bred laying hens kept indoors with artificial lighting². Check the coop is weather tight and in good repair before the cold sets in⁶.

Bird flu, heatstroke and when to call a vet

Hens hide illness well, so you have to look for it. Signs of poor health include a hunched posture, erect feathers, the head tucked under the wing, hiding in corners, dirty feathers, lameness, runny faeces stuck to the rear feathers, and discharge from the eyes or nostrils. Contact a vet if you are concerned⁵.

Bird flu changes what you should do with a sick or dead bird. An Avian Influenza Prevention Zone is currently in place across the UK, and the advice is not to touch or handle sick or dead birds. If you have to, wash your hands thoroughly immediately afterwards and keep them away from your face and food¹. Maintain good personal hygiene with regular hand washing with soap and the use of alcohol-based hand rubs¹². Bird keepers should follow Defra for the latest advice¹³, and in all disease control zones there are biosecurity rules to follow, including keeping records of anyone who transports or markets poultry or poultry eggs, with exemptions for table eggs¹⁴.

Worms are the other common problem worth planning for. Establish a routine hen health plan with regular preventative worming, use a ground sanitiser, pick up droppings regularly, change bedding when it is soiled, and prevent chickens from accessing intermediate hosts¹⁷. Chickens kept in the same outdoor area for more than a month particularly need regular worming, and birds with worms should be moved to a new grazing area to prevent reinfection from infested droppings¹. Tapeworm needs an intermediate host such as slugs and snails, so a hen can only be infected by eating an infected host¹⁷.

Where to get help and how to keep the kit ready

The kit is only useful if it is there when you need it. A few habits keep it that way.

• Keep a reserve. Have a week's worth of food, water and any other supplies your hens need on a regular basis, in line with general household emergency advice for pets¹⁸. Keep food and bedding in stock in case you cannot get to the shops⁶.
• Store feed properly. A cool, secure, dry place stops feed going off or spoiling¹.
• Plan for being cut off. If you are unable to move livestock or outdoor pets in an emergency, ensure they are as far from danger as possible and arrange for shelter and food to last them several days²⁰.
• Keep the run and fences sound. Maintain fences so that livestock and other animals do not get trapped¹⁰, and check fences, gates and hedges along with the coop⁶.
• Have the vet's number ready. A poultry-friendly vet is the first call for heatstroke or any health concern⁸.

For the wider picture, the guide to pets and animals in an emergency covers planning for animals in a power cut, flood or other disruption, and chicken health goes through mites, lice, worms and common illnesses in more detail. If you are bringing home rescue birds, the checklist for bringing home rescue hens sets out the first days, and how to introduce new hens to an existing flock covers merging flocks without bullying.