Keeping Chickens on Allotment Sites

[mrpastry]

I have a large allotment it is a corner plot so i decided to have some chickens at present i have them at home been checked by animal welfare and got permission to have them, i have envolved the public health and they have again give me permission, so i thought i would apply to the local council to keep my chickens on my allotment getting all the appropiate people envolved but they said no, yet every other council surrounding use has allowed the plot holders to have chickens, we are told we must grow veg and eat healthly so why not let people keep the chickens if they can prove they are looked after

 

[theboynelson]

There seems to be a big difference in how different local authorities deal with the idea of livestock, in Germany people are allowed to build chalets in their allotments and stay overnight there.

I suppose that the local authority are nervous about animal welfare, given that a lot of allotment keepers give up after a few weeks, that would be compounded by having livestock on it and it is just easier to have a blanket ban.

 

[For want of a better word]

I was not allowed to keep bees on the allotments in South Hams
Or any livestock......Sheds had all to be same size and colour and were in an inaccessible row well away from the allotment area.
Worst of all there was no metalled path to the allotments , although South Hams DC were asked the, answer was that it would cost too much.
However locally they managed to surface a byway at massive public expense.. leading to a Sir... ( of Tory infamity.. friend of leader of council etc etc) country mansion, and
place a Traffic Regulation Order on it !

After a season pushing wheelbarrows through the mud I gave up.

I take it not all allotment sites are as bad!

Rant over

 

[ratcatcher]

its down to each allotment, the one that lets me have the out apiary, does not allow chickens

 

[alanf]

The Allotments Act (1950) specifically authorises rabbits and hens on allotments.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/14/31/section/12

12 Abolition of contractual restrictions on keeping hens and rabbits.

(1)Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in any lease or tenancy or in any covenant, contract or undertaking relating to the use to be made of any land, it shall be lawful for the occupier of any land to keep, otherwise than by way of trade or business, hens or rabbits in any place on the land and to erect or place and maintain such buildings or structures on the land as reasonably necessary for that purpose:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall authorise any hens or rabbits to be kept in such a place or in such a manner as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance or affect the operation of any enactment.

Unless there are specific by-laws against keeping poultry on specific allotment sites and subject to the health and nuisance provision the legislation says you you can keep hens whatever the contract or lease agreement says. That is on allotments covered by the act, 'private' allotments (owned by other than the council, such as church or trusts) will have their own rules. Whether you would want to keep hens there if all the other plot holders and neighbours are against it is a different matter.

 

[For want of a better word]

Twas on lease from National Trust in Wembury SouthHams Devon

 

[Brosville]

Keeping chickens can be a delight, but you have to get the basics right - sadly I see a lot of scratched bare "chicken runs" that only increase things like worm burden, and lead to ill-health - it is far better to "rotate" the ground, either by using something like a movable "Sussex Ark" or "strip grazing" the land that you have.
I hate to say it, but you may be better off not having them on an allotment with public access- there's not only foxes to worry about, but human thieves and vandals abound, both of the chooks and the eggs.

If you have a reasonable sized lawn at home, you could perhaps have them in a moveable ark there - we have an area that they're moved around on, and it isn't that unsightly as the grass gets a chance to regrow

 

[Luminos]

Chickens and vegetables really don't mix (except in a stew).
IME the chickens always win