What you need to get started
Before the kit, the honest question: should you? Hens need space. A bare minimum of one square metre of run per bird, and two to three is far kinder; cramped hens peck each other and it escalates. They need twenty minutes of your attention every day of the year, including Christmas, including the week it rains sideways. They need someone to check on them when you're on holiday; an automatic door helps, but a machine can't spot a sick bird, and under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 their care remains your legal duty. And they need protecting from foxes, which is not a rural problem. Urban foxes are bolder and hunt in daylight.
There's law to know before you spend a pound. Since 2024, everyone in Great Britain who keeps birds must register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, even for a single hen. Check your house deeds and tenancy agreement: some prohibit keeping poultry outright. Skip the cockerel: you don't need one for eggs, the 4am crowing is a noise nuisance your council can act on, and deeds often ban them specifically. And avian flu housing orders are now a regular feature of British winters; when one is declared, keeping your hens under cover isn't advice, it's the law.
Still in? Good. Hens are low drama once the setup is right, the eggs are better than anything in a shop, and the manure will overhaul your compost heap. Here's the kit.
The essential gear
Coop and run
£150–450 depending on wood vs plasticThe single decision that matters most. For 3–4 hens you want a coop with 30cm of perch per bird and an attached run giving at least 1m² per bird, ideally more. Wood is cheaper but harbours red mite in its joints; plastic coops (Omlet's Eglu, Green Frog Designs) cost more, last longer, and can be pressure-washed clean of mite in twenty minutes. The run must be galvanised weld mesh, not chicken wire. A fox goes through chicken wire like wet paper.
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Feeder and drinker
£15–30 for bothA hanging or wall-mounted feeder keeps pellets off the floor, which matters because spilt feed is what brings rats. A 3-litre drinker covers 3–4 hens; they drink around half a litre each a day, more in summer. Get one of each; refilling a tiny drinker twice a day gets old by week two.
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Layers pellets
£10–15 for 20kgA complete feed, around 16% protein with the calcium a laying hen needs. This is the diet; everything else is a treat in small amounts. A 20kg sack feeds 3–4 hens for about six weeks. Store it in a metal bin with a tight lid: rats chew through plastic and feed sacks overnight.
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Mixed poultry grit with oyster shell
£5–8 for a bag that lasts monthsTwo jobs in one bag. Insoluble flint grit sits in the gizzard and grinds food, because hens have no teeth. Soluble oyster shell dissolves and supplies the calcium that becomes eggshell. Offer it in a small separate dish; the hens take what they need.
Bedding
£8–12 a bale, lasts 4–6 weeksDust-extracted wood shavings for the coop floor and nest box. Not hay, which turns mouldy and damp; not sawdust, which is too fine and irritates airways. Straw is acceptable but shavings are easier to spot-clean and compost down faster.
Red mite powder
£8–12Diatomaceous earth or a licensed mite powder. Red mite is the near-universal parasite of chicken coops: it hides in crevices by day and feeds on roosting birds at night. You'll dust the perch ends and coop joints routinely from day one. Prevention is cheap; an infestation is miserable to clear.
Where to buy (UK)
- Omlet (omlet.co.uk): Plastic coops, walk-in runs, and automatic doors. Not cheap, but the kit lasts decades and cleans properly
- Local agricultural merchants: Mole Valley Farmers, Wynnstay, and independent country stores sell feed, bedding, and grit far cheaper than pet shops. Find your nearest; you'll be back monthly
- British Hen Welfare Trust (bhwt.org.uk): For the hens themselves, if you go the rescue route: ex-commercial hens rehomed for a donation at collection points across the country
Avoid the £60 flat-pack coops sold online as 'suitable for 4 hens'. They suit two bantams at best, the wood is soft, and foxes have opened them like advent calendars.
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Register your flock. It's the law.
Since 2024, all keepers of poultry in Great Britain must register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), even if you keep a single hen. The old 50-bird threshold is gone. You must register within 30 days of getting your birds, review the details annually, and it's free; search "register poultry APHA" on gov.uk. Registration is also how APHA contacts you when avian flu measures apply in your area, which is information you want.
Check the paperwork before the coop
Read your deeds or tenancy agreement for poultry covenants, and check whether your council has local rules. Most gardens are fine for a few hens; the point is to find out before you've spent £400, not after a neighbour complains.
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