Keeping hens on grass

Hens kept on grass use the same patch of ground every day. Looking after that ground is a large part of keeping the flock well.

Defra's code of practice for laying hens applies in England. It covers a few hens kept on a smallholding as well as a commercial farm. The code says its advice on range access is good practice for every flock, whatever its size.

How many hens a patch of grass can carry

The code names soil type, drainage, the size of the flock and how often the pasture is rotated as the things that decide how many hens an area can carry. In its words, "heavy, poorly drained soil can carry fewer hens than land that is light and well drained".

The rules for selling eggs as free range give an upper limit. A free-range run may not hold more than 2,500 hens to the hectare, which works out at 4 square metres for each bird.

Those same rules allow for rotation. If the whole area gives at least 10 square metres a hen, and the birds use all of it evenly over their lives, any single paddock may drop to 2.5 square metres a hen. A run may reach 150 metres out from the closest pophole, or up to 350 metres when there are at least four shelters to the hectare spread across it.

Moving the house and resting the ground

Ground used by hens for a long time can become "fowl sick", the code warns. It means the land carries enough disease organisms to harm the birds kept on it.

How quickly that happens depends on the type of land and how many birds it holds. The code suggests moving the house where it is portable, or rotating the ranging area around a fixed house.

Unless the house is moved frequently, the code calls it good practice to protect the ground right next to it. Its examples are slatted or wire mesh platforms, a covered veranda, or an area of gravel. It also asks keepers to keep the ground round the popholes clean and well drained.

Shelter, cover and foxes

In England, the welfare rules for farmed animals say animals kept outside must, where necessary and possible, be protected from bad weather, predators and risks to their health. They must also have a well-drained place to lie at all times.

The code adds that trees, hedges and shrubs encourage hens to use the range. It suggests tree cover close to the house, because hens are reluctant to cross open ground.

On exposed land, the code asks for windbreaks, natural or built. It also asks keepers to take precautions against predators and to control them as part of managing the range.

Food and water put out on the range should be covered and out of reach of wild birds, rodents and other animals, according to the code. It says ponds on or near the range should be fenced off or netted.

Registering your birds

In England and Wales, anyone keeping poultry must register within one month. This includes birds kept as pets. GOV.UK says you are breaking the law if you do not register. Anyone with 50 birds or more has separate guidance to follow.

Scotland has its own list, the Scottish Kept Bird Register. Every keeper there must be on it, even with a single bird, and the Scottish Government calls this a legal requirement.

In Northern Ireland, DAERA says that by law bird keepers should register their birds, apart from birds kept inside the home.

Bird flu: staying inside and reporting it

Bird flu is a notifiable disease in poultry and other kept birds. If you suspect it, you must report it straight away to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The number is 03000 200 301 in England and 03003 038 268 in Wales. In Scotland, keepers call their local APHA Field Services Office.

Where a case is confirmed, zones are set up round the farm. In a protection zone or a captive bird (monitoring) controlled zone, birds must be kept indoors. The bird flu disease zone map on GOV.UK shows where the zones are.

Defra's guidance on housing birds says any netting over a range should have a mesh no bigger than 25mm, to keep small wild birds out.

When birds can go out again, the same guidance warns that the range may hold wild bird droppings, feathers or carcases. It says the virus can stay infectious in them for around 50 days, and longer in wet ground and standing water. Keepers must prepare the range before letting the birds back on it.

The Scottish and Welsh Governments and DAERA each keep their own bird flu pages.

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