What the Cluck?: The Omlet guide to keeping chickens

By Omlet

Omlet's easy-to-clean, safe and stylish Eglu chicken houses became an instant design icon when they were launched in 2004. Omlet quickly became most popular brand among chicken keepers, appealing to a new generation of people wanting to keep chickens as pets in their back gardens. This complete guide covers everything a novice chicken keeper nee

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inkspire
• Release date: Jan 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781913618186

Omlet

Founded and run by product designers, Omlet produces world famous pet products, including the market-leading Eglu. It all started in 2003 when four friends met at the Royal College of Art in London. They designed a revolutionary new chicken house which made it simpler to keep chickens in gardens. It looked rather like an igloo and in a moment of punning genius that would define the next generation of chicken keepers, they named it the Eglu and an icon was born. Since then Omlet’s designs have delighted thousands of pets and their owners around the world through their uncompromising attention to detail and innovative ideas. Omlet products are available in Europe, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Book preview

1. Let’s Get Cracking

Welcome to the ultimate guide to keeping chickens!

Omlet launched the Eglu chicken coop in 2004 with the sole purpose of making it easy for everyone to keep a small flock of chickens for the eggs and for the fun! Over the years we’ve learnt more than we ever imagined there was to know about these wonderful pets. From eggs to eggshibitions, coops to care, we’ve separated the whites from the yolks to bring you the real need-to-know information that every chicken keeper should have in their basket.

But first, let’s deal with that pesky, ‘which came first’ question once and for all...

IllustrationIllustration

We know you are desperate to find out the truth behind the chicken or the egg debate, but before we get into that we need a bit of background to help us all agree on the answer. To anyone who has spent time around chickens it may already be obvious that they are closely related to dinosaurs. Just watching a hen run across a wide open garden towards an unsuspecting worm is all the evidence you need that this is a fearsome prehistoric predator at work. But for some, it came as quite a surprise when in 2007, a team of top scientists announced that the humble hen is a direct descendant of the most feared dinosaur of all time – the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The evidence came from a study in which T. Rex collagen was compared to that of various modern species, and amazingly, it proved to be more similar to the chicken than any other creature alive today.

From jungle fowl to herald of the sun

The similarities don’t stop there though. The bone structure and feathers are also remarkably similar to many species of dinosaur and it’s possibly a reason why children find chickens such fascinating pets.

But when did the little dinosaurs that today’s backyard chicken keepers know and love actually emerge? That happened around 10 million years ago – 55 million years after the last T-Rex roamed the earth.

The bird from which all modern breeds of chickens descend is the Asian Red Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus), a native of Southeast Asia. These birds were domesticated approximately 5000 years ago for a number of reasons – meat, eggs, cock-fighting and various ritual practices.

The ancient Egyptians built the first incubators to hatch the vast quantities of chickens they needed to lay eggs to feed the slaves that built the pyramids. So, without chickens there would be no pyramids!

Because of its long history alongside humans, the chicken has featured in folklore and legends throughout the ages. In Greek mythology, it was the sacred bird of Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, a bird of fertility for Persephone, a symbol of love and desire for Eros, and a creature of commerce and productivity for Hermes. So sacred was the bird, in fact, that the Ancient Greeks didn’t eat chicken meat, but kept the birds for eggs and religious purposes only.

Illustration

A White Sussex hen, or a modern dinosaur?

Illustration

Chickens celebrate the rising of the sun to this day!

In Greek and Roman folklore, and in many pagan European traditions too, the cockerel was linked to the sun, whose daily rising it celebrates with a glorious crowing that to this date is the universal sound of a new day starting.

One cockerel story tells the tale of a youthful soldier named Alectryon, who was hired by the god Ares and the goddess Aphrodite to guard the bedroom door during their illicit meetings. Alectryon fell asleep while on duty, and failed to warn the lovers that the sun god Helios was about to pay a call.

Ares vented his anger on Alectryon by transforming him into a cockerel, and since then the sleepy guard has never failed to crow each morning, alerting the world to the arrival of the sun. Cockerel-shaped golden weathervanes are an echo of this link with the sun-herald story.

Illustration

Which of these came first?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

This perennial question was first written down in the philosopher Plutarch’s collected series of essays Moralia around AD100. An interesting way of looking at this popular dinner party conundrum is to question where the chicken’s ancestor, the Red Jungle Fowl, first appeared.

The fossil record is very patchy, so we’ll find no help there. But try to imagine the ancestors of the Jungle Fowl looking a bit like a scruffy hen mixed with a wild pheasant, and you’ve made a good start. Perhaps one of these birds, or its mate, or both, carried some rogue genes. The hen then laid an egg that produced a chick that was significantly different from its siblings. This bird then became the parent of a new branch of birds that were different enough from their grandparents and great grandparents that they would be considered the next step on the evolutionary path that eventually led to the Red Jungle Fowl.

This means, the first chicken was inside the egg and they actually arrived at the same time!

The most common bird on earth

It was in the nineteenth century that chicken breeding really took flight. As well as aiming at better egg production, breeders also started developing hens whose main purpose was having a fancy-looking plumage. One of the catalysts for this chicken mania was British monarch Queen Victoria, who had a special soft spot for the then very exotic Cochin chicken. Victoria was also at the heart of the new mood of animal rights and moral reform that spread from England across the world from the 1820s onwards. Her government banned cock-fighting in Britain as early as 1849.

By the end of the nineteenth century there were several poultry clubs, competitions, exhibitions and dedicated chicken breeders in Britain, Europe, the USA and elsewhere. People would pay thousands of pounds for the best, prize-winning breeding birds, and poultry fancying was a common pastime within the higher classes.

Illustration

The next milestone in their history happened around the turn of the millennium. By then, chickens had become the most common species on Earth – in fact, there was more than one bird for every human by the 1950s – although more due to farming than hobby breeding. But now a new rising interest in locally and ethically produced food saw keen gardeners growing courgettes and giving ex-battery hens a new start in the safety of town and country gardens.

The art of chicken keeping was truly modernised with the launch of the Eglu in 2004. This plastic coop made it easier and more straightforward than ever to keep a small flock of chickens as a hobby. Queen Victoria would most definitely have approved!

2. Hatching a Plan

Stop Dreaming, Start Keeping Chickens

You’re probably really excited to get those chooks clucking in the garden, but before you hurry out to pick up your new feathered friends, let’s get back to basics.

How many chickens do you need? What happens when you first bring them home? How will they get on with your other pets? How does the pecking order work, and what do all those different chicken sounds mean? This chapter free-ranges through these, and other chicken-keeping FAQs.

IllustrationIllustration

Just like any other pet, chickens are a much loved part of the home (or garden!) and offer families across the world a great deal of joy. Here are our favourite things about keeping chickens...

1. The eggs. Chickens will lay lots of fresh eggs, and with two or three hens you should have at least one fresh egg every day. You know exactly where they have come from and they will be the most delicious eggs you have ever tasted. Breakfast is served!

2. Fertiliser. Hen poo is high in nitrogen and will need composting first, but once matured it is a free organic fertiliser that will work wonders on your vegetable patch.

3. Companionship. You may be surprised to learn that chickens can be a comforting presence to many people, including children and the elderly, and backyard hens have transformed the lives of many.

4. Pest control. Chickens love to eat all the things that crawl and slime their way through your garden, so if you have a green thumb you’ll appreciate their assistance in eating any gardener’s worst enemies – slugs and snails.

5. Educational benefits. For young children, being involved in the care of chickens is a great source of learning. Not only in discovering where the eggs in their egg-cups come from, but also through the teaching of sustainable living practices, understanding how creatures like chickens have adapted to care for themselves, and experiencing the life cycle of their pets.

6. Entertainment value. You may not know it yet, but chickens are very entertaining and unintentionally funny. Each chicken has its own personality and quirks, and that surprised head-jerk accompanied by a slow, contented ‘Borrrp’ as the hen prowls the garden is guaranteed comedy gold – promise!

7. It’s easy. Once you get into the swing of keeping chickens, it’s simplicity itself. They are incredibly low maintenance and all they require from you is food, shelter, and a sprinkle of love!

Illustration

Chickens bring your garden alive

Illustration

Welcome to the neighbourhood!

Am I allowed to keep chickens?

Keeping chickens in your back garden is permitted in the vast majority of countries, you just need to be aware of your local laws and regulations. For example:

Illustration Zoning laws and ordinances. These dictate how a property can be used. Some places limit the keeping of poultry to official designated zones, like farms. If you’d like to sell your eggs, you should check the small print of the ordinances in your area and seek legal advice if you are unsure.

Illustration Local laws and bylaws. These vary all over the world, and in the USA they can even vary from one town to the next, in some instances requiring a permit for the keeping of chickens. Sometimes there is a simple limit on the number of fowl you can keep, depending on the size of your plot and the distance from your home. In some instances, there are also laws relating to noise, nuisance, odour and pests. Many locations do not allow the keeping of roosters, for example. In some cities, it is often a requirement to keep hens in their enclosure at all times – and if they are not allowed to free range in your garden there’s even more reason to ensure they have enough space to live comfortably.

Illustration Restrictions for homeowners. In your home’s property deeds you may find some limitations concerning chicken keeping. However, this is usually just a limit on the number of birds that can be kept and a restriction on commercial poultry activities.

Illustration Restrictions for renters. Rented properties often have limitations on the pets and livestock that can be kept on the premises, so be sure to check with your landlord first.

Illustration Building regulations. Depending on where you live, your chicken coop design and size may need to be reviewed by local planning officers – choosing a high-quality structure, such as an Eglu, will make for a smooth visit.

Illustration Animal welfare laws. In the UK, you can keep up to 50 chickens as long as you are caring for them according to animal welfare standards. By law, any flock of over 50 chickens needs to be registered with