KEEPING chickens in the back garden is now a status symbol and more important to some people than buying a new car, according to a recent survey on green living.

UK-wide B&Q's Green with Envy' study of almost 1,300 households identified an increasing trend towards green envy', with homeowners competing with their neighbours to go environmentally-friendly in their back gardens.

The top five most-envied status symbols are: 1) Vegetable patch; 2) Chicken coop; 3) Wild area to encourage wildlife; 4) New car; 5) Water-efficient plant watering system.

The study found that 1 in 10 people either own or plan to buy a chicken coop along with chickens this year and the DIY chain has already seen a huge increase in the interest in their chicken coop sales during the first half of 2008.

Laura O'Donnell of B&Q told SMALLHOLDER: "We found that chicken coop sales increased three-fold earlier this year, possibly prompted by TV programmes, such as Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's expose of battery farming and Jamie Oliver's Fowl Dinners' in January."

The fact that chickens are the new black' comes as no surprise to Andrew Goldie of auctioneers Lawrie & Symington. Poultry sales this year have produced high prices for some birds and a recent sale at Lanark Agricultural Centre had the best attendance of the year so far with tremendous interest in the lots available.

The top price on the day was £80 for a pen of 4 Wellsummer pullets from J.Lawson of Braeside.

Nearly 300 pens contained other pure breeds such as Silkies, Yokohamas and Wyandottes but 200 Lohman commercial laying birds were also in great demand, the hens selling at £35 for five.

"Obviously keeping chickens is the hobby to have and everything was making what people were wanting for their birds, so the vendors were as delighted as the buyers. The atmosphere was really buzzing with over 100 buyers in attendance. The bids were coming very quickly, it was tremendous. Anything that lays an egg had a buyer," said Andrew Goldie.

The bouyant market for poultry is being reflected across the UK and this popularity for chickens is backed up by poultry equipment retailers. Alastair McIntyre, who provides poultry housing and equipment said: "I'm amazed at the current interest in chickens. At a show recently I sold out of chicken coops and many were going to people who have never kept poultry before."

However, with this demand for all things chicken comes the sad reality that some people will stoop to anything for easy money and smallholders and pure breed hobby keepers are being warned to beware of thefts. High prices for birds have made them desirable for thieves and chickens are being stolen and sold on, privately, through markets and on the Internet.

Thefts of birds is on the increase across the UK, from people who keep a few Silkies for pets or exhibition to those whose livelihoods depend on selling poultry equipment and birds to go with it. A specialist breeder in Derbyshire recently lost some rare coloured Orpingtons and Sablepoot bantams along with electric poultry fencing, parasite treatment and even rat poison overnight. A chain had been cut on the gate and a van or similar vehicle must have been used to take everything away. In another incident in Yorkshire, a wide selection of breeds had been totally cleared, again, with poultry equipment also taken.

A spokesperson for the Poultry Club of Great Britain said: "Previously it has been game birds that have been taken but these days no breed is safe and even poultry equipment is disappearing. Because of the huge interest in the hobby, opportunists are stealing birds and selling them on for good money. This can be heartbreaking to the owners and there are also concerns for the birds' welfare as many people going into poultry are not doing their homework beforehand and finding out how to look after the birds properly."

Advice from the Poultry Club is to be vigilant and beware of strangers who turn up at the property interested in your birds. Smallholders are at as great a risk as hobbyists for with more people intent on keeping chickens for their eggs, free-range egg laying commercial birds can easily produce a quick few pounds for the opportunist thief.

These people have ways of finding out which breed is kept and may declare an interest in it. They probably won't buy anything, saying they are preparing housing for the birds at the moment and will contact you again later. However, they are more than likely carrying out a recce on your property and you could well find the birds disappear one night.

Other precautions are not to keep poultry coops and pens in isolated areas far away from other activity and lock them up at night if possible. Security lights do help to deter thieves during winter nights but a large, loud dog on the premises is something thieves do not like. Guinea Fowl also act as a warning system. If Guinea Fowl are kept on the premises and allowed to roost in trees they are very good at letting you know if anyone is about and the loud screeching they make may also deter potential thieves in itself. Geese are also excellent watchdogs and if these roam the smallholding during the day and are clearly seen it could well put off people with ill intent venturing back.

If you are unfortunate enough to have birds stolen alert livestock auction markets that have weekly poultry sales. It could be that by providing the number and descriptions of the birds taken there is a possibility this could tie in with some lots that have been entered for a forthcoming sale. However, the onus will be on you to try to confirm that these are your birds and are stolen property.

Identifying birds through leg ringing or wing tabs is possible but these can be removed and it is extremely difficult to prove the ownership of birds once they are gone. Poultry keepers may well be able to identify their own birds but to the police one Orpington looks like any other Orpington. So with your word against someone elses, any particular identification marks on your birds become vital.

Research is currently underway to see if it is economically viable to tattoo birds on the bare skin under the wing. This is believed to have been done in the past on Ostrich farms abroad and could be used in association with a ringing scheme or an agricultural holding number. If this was carried out then paperwork would be required for any such identified birds that are eventually sold on.

Endeavouring to prevent theft in the first place though is a priority at present and being aware of potential theft is something every smallholder should consider. Most thieves are going to be stopped or caught by people being vigilant so the most important thing is to report anything suspicious to the police. These days anything stolen is saleable so ask your local police for advice on how to improve security on your premises. Check with your insurer what is covered and it could well be worthwhile including the poultry if it isn't already. This might sound somewhat dramatic and possibly not cost effective but if you have a large number of birds or a breeding line that you have developed over a number of years this might not turn out to be extravagant.

Also, join a Farm Watch scheme or start your own Smallholder scheme in the area and ask neighbours if they would kindly keep a look out for anyone acting suspiciously. Neighbours might well have chickens themselves so you might be helping to protect each others birds. With the specialist pure and minority breeds of poultry sales coming up in the autumn, make sure that someone else isn't pocketing money for birds at your expense.