Thanks for the warm welcome, all! Yes, I'd guess chickens are almost certainly a part of my future. An old friend also told me they love slugs, so they can be handy pest control if you let them loose amongst your Brassica for a bit (?). But I think I'll take that to the appropriate section of the forum to explore further.
Long, boring story behind my forum name, arobwk, but it started with a near miss from a dive-bombing bird - my profile photo is the resulting tarmac-splat (I swear I felt the wind parting my hair as it went past!). If you've seen the film "V for Vendetta" (though it was only a comic back then) you'll recognise what an anarchist that bird was - it's been my profile photo and forum name ever since.