Urban Hens - Keeping Chickens In London

Sara and Andy were wonderful hosts. Placing a large glass of Pimm's in my hand as I arrived they shepherded me into their lovely garden and introduced me to their chickens, bantams and a large inquisitive tom cat. Sara and Andy are a mine of information on how a very busy family keep hens (and bees) in a London garden and as they placed a broody hen in my arms their passion and enthusiasm washed over me and I was smitten. If any doubt remained it was swiftly dealt with as I sampled an egg mayonnaise sandwich courtesy of 'the girls'. All questions answered I was sent home with complete notes and 4 newly laid eggs. An egg on toast for breakfast this morning and I'm sold. If you are thinking about keeping hens in a London garden and want first hand knowledge and experience I would thoroughly recommend Hen Corner.

Very inspiring learning experience. Sara's welcoming was so warm and professional. the most enjoyable afternoon meeting her and her family as well as the rest of the group. We are now ready to have our own chickens. Don't forget your goody bag, it is such a treat!!

It's no surprise to see that everyone here has given Sara's course 5 stars! Having watched her series of videos I thought it would be worth while to take a hands on course to really see what we were getting into by deciding to keep chickens in our urban garden. I brought my two children along, 5 and 6, and the three of us couldn't have had a nicer afternoon. Sara and her family were so welcoming and she covered everything you would need to know while also allowing plenty of time to answer individual questions and concerns. Sara's son kindly played with my children in their fabulous garden while I was able to enjoy the conversation over tea and cake! Such a treat! A wonderful afternoon with the added surprise of a lovely goodie bag to take home. Highly recommend!

Sara and family were incredibly hospitable to us on our afternoon course. Sara provided us with such a knowledgeable, interesting and down-to-earth summary of both the art of keeping chickens and bees. We all felt that we had a genuine introduction into the practical and realistic journey that we would be embarking on. We all came away for the day totally hyped up about the possibilities that lay ahead - the kids were singing the praises of keeping bees and chickens to anyone who would listen on the journey back home..... We would highly recommend the course to any family that were thinking about taking on chickens and/or bees!

Spent a wonderful day with 5 good friends where we enjoyed making cheese and biscuits, hosted by Sara. I felt very welcome and really enjoyed meeting her and relaxing in her home and garden.

My son and I had a lovely evening at Hen Corner Sara and Andy made us feel at home. We were greeted with Pimms and freshly baked rolls with egg mayo and shown into their lovely garden by Andy. Sara talked us through the breeds, how to care and look after hens. There were only 4 of us on the course which was good as we all could ask plenty of questions to gain plenty of knowledge about chicken keeping. I brought my 3 girls a few days before going on the course so already had lots of questions for Sara. The course was finished off with tea and a homemade cake with a layer of homemade jam, which was yummy. We were both given a goodie bags which contained some lovely eggs, homemade jam, bay leaves, postcard, fridge magnets and some course notes. Brilliant course well worth going !!! Sara asked if there was anything she could do to improve the course and having time to think about it, there is nothing she should change. Thank you Sara and Andy. Tam & Callum

I found Hen Corner online, after searching for bee keeping courses in London - and instantly warmed to Sara from her friendly you tube videos. Her email correspondence was equally as warm and i was really looking forward to her course, it was a beautiful day and Sara welcomed me into her lovely home and into the garden. There were just three of us on the course, which was brilliant and we started with a chat about what we were about to find out, along with a cold drink and one of Sara's homemade honey and oat cookies. Sara gave us a fascinating overview of her background and her decisions to keep chickens and then the bees and how her journey had led her to start this course, we were the first, but you'd never know as her explanations of everything were clear and concise and her passion for sustainable living, immediately clear. We then had a chance to observe the bees close up in a wonderfully restored observation unit, that Sara and her husband had fixed up just the week before, we spotted the queen and learnt more about the worker bees, the smoking and once we were kitted up in our nets we made our way over to the hive... I was at this point that my slight panic set in, as there were bees buzzing up close, and despite my fascination of bees and loving honey and wanting to learn more about bees... I do freeze up... Still i overcame the fear i think as it was amazing, looking in Sara's beehaus, holding the frames, using the smoker and learning more. We then all sat and had a honey tasting session which was brilliant, including getting to taste Sara's award winning honey - the interactive nature of what were doing made the course all the more memorable and fascinating. Then a cuppa and another of the homemade cookies as we chatted through the ins and outs of us all getting more involved, before we were given a Hen Corner goody bag, with eggs (which i've just had for my breakfast on this bank holiday Monday) more cookies, some homemade apple and chilli jelly, home grown bay leaves ! Yum! I'm now trying to find out where i can do more training in St Albans as my local bee keeping authority has said it's course are booked until 2015 but for anyone wanting to know if Bee keeping is for them i highly recommend visiting Hen Corner it was a wonderful way to not only spend a few hours, but real value for money. 10/10

My daughter and I had a wonderful day at Hen Corner. Sara was so generous with her time, her knowledge and her cakes! If I can persuade my husband then we will get some chickens in the near future!

I would not hesitate in recommending the Family and Feathers course - Sara is an excellent host and we were greeted with tea and homemade biscuits and cakes. We learned everything we needed and wanted to know about chicken keeping in a relaxed setting. Sara has lots of different breeds of chickens and the kids loved all the activities and getting hands on picking the hens up and collecting eggs. To top it all we all got given a lovely going home bag full of goodies - homemade apple and chilli jelly, bay leaves, notes on chicken keeping and of course some lovely eggs! If you're interested in keeping chickens in your back garden, this is the course for you.

Were made to feel very welcome, looked after extremely well and learnt enough and more in order to start our chicken journey at School!