Chickens

[Timelord]

Had a friend who got chickens & ducks a few years back.. He will not be replacing the ducks as they quickly turned his garden to mud pate'.
the chickens do grub up the garden a bit, but nowhere near as destructive as the ducks or as dirty. Ducks need at least a small pool too.
Foxes is a big issue! Your outdoor run must be well enclosed and the night time quarters must be fox proof, including the floor. Standard chicken wire is not fox proof and they can easily chew through it. You need heavier duty wire mesh panels. Preferebly buried in the floor too. Foxes will dig under the pen edge and come up inside if able.
Make sure you never come home too late to herd the chickens/ducks etc in from the outer pen to their night time abodes. Dusk is the critical time. foxes will be more likely to hunt from then onwards.
1 fox will kill many or all birds in a hen house whilst only taking one, so it is a costly problem to have and not good if in a survival situation. Build the poultry run & house v.well or it is likely to occur at some point. once a fox scouts the place it will keep coming back and may bring friends. Foxes are adept climbers too, so really it is ideal to have a roofed & floored outdoor run, possibly adjacent to the hen house, as well as a well fenced garden. due to the mess and grubbing up done by the birds the grass areas will need time to recover. One way to do this is to have a movable outdoor run or a way of partioning half or sections off, so at least one area can be left to recover whilst the birds are in another.
Beware hungry 2 legged predators also in times of need.
TL.