Fresh start for Hens

[dorsetladette]

In the summer we rehomed a few ex battery hens from fresh start for Hens. They ask for a minimum donation of £2.50 a hen. They come a little bit 'oven ready' depending on whether they are from free range or battery farm. 6 months on they have mostly regrown their feathers we get roughly 6-8 eggs a week off 6 hens. (they lay less in winter with the shorter day light hours) the girls are happy and are entertaining to watch. They cost us £7 a month to feed plus straw for bedding and the odd loaf of bread/tin of sweetcorn for a treat.

We have another 4 arriving on friday.

I would really recommend having a look at there website if you are thinking of getting chickens. They may not be the most productive, but it makes you feel good to know you are giving something a good home.

 

[Lacuna]

I've adopted from them and also BHWT (British Hen Welfare Trust) and had about 15 ex-commercial hens over the years. Once my current batch of newbies have decided what sex they are, I shall probably get another pair to round out the flock.

Only downside I have ever had is that they do not have long life spans, oldest 4-5 years (I put it down to early stress. To compare to my 2 Welsummer purebreds I had, who lived to 9 years old each.

 

[dixie]

Brilliant. When I’ve got a place where I can keep chicken, this is what I’d like to do.

 

[silv]

I have had some ex commercial hens over the years, it is lovely to see how they blossom, they normally are friendly and very entertaining.
They are bred to be laying machines and their bodies cannot cope so they tend to have a relatively short lifespan, ie 4 or 5 years max.
My heart breaks for all the ones that live a miserable life and have no retirement at the end. I am sure you will enjoy your "girls" very much. It's lovely to see them free ranging and trashing my garden along with their heritage flatmates!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I too have had some ex-battery hens. They were sad little creatures when they arrived but they soon feathered up and cheered up, and continued to produce for a good many years.

Just an observation from my own experience with these hens: don't get a house where they have to go up a steep ramp and/or have to fly up to get into the house, they'll need a nice sloping access ramp. Their wings won't be strong enough to permit them to fly up into a house or to use them to balance on a steep ramp or steps.

 

[Bellaboo18]

What a lovely thread.
It's something I'd like to do in the future but would like more space than we have at the moment for them.

 

[luckyoldme]

I cant have any pets at the moment but what a lovely thread...i feel all happy and warm now????

 

[Archangel]

I always get ex-cage hens (Hen Welfare Trust), they are such sweet girls. Cage birds should be banned.

Here is one of mine with a feral kitten (she is actually a bit of a kitten pecker ) but she likes Amyas.

 

[dorsetladette]

I too have had some ex-battery hens. They were sad little creatures when they arrived but they soon feathered up and cheered up, and continued to produce for a good many years.

Just an observation from my own experience with these hens: don't get a house where they have to go up a steep ramp and/or have to fly up to get into the house, they'll need a nice sloping access ramp. Their wings won't be strong enough to permit them to fly up into a house or to use them to balance on a steep ramp or steps.

Funny you should say that. My OH has built them a new house a couple of months ago. Its huge. But he made the door out of the front of our old washing machine. Its so funny when you let them out in the morning and they all jump down out of the door! It also stops them scratching all their bedding out into the mud. They have a little ramp to get in and out. He's quite clever my HO - but I don't tell him to often as it might go to his head!

 

[luckyoldme]

Can we have some more hen pictures? This thread has grabbed me. Im stuck in my wagon all week..cant have pets but its really inspired me !!!

 

[dorsetladette]

Here's my 'ladies' living the dream.

One is named after my MIL as she's in everyone else's business all the time!! lol

 

[Karran]

I love this! I had Henny Potter who I found roaming the streets October 2018. It wasn't until end of Feb 2019 that she started laying. She was such a character, sitting on my shoulder like a parrot, bullying Mrs Spaniel, and doing her best to get into my house.
One day I found her upstairs sitting in the bath, another on the sofa having kicked over a box of after 8's and having a great time.
Sadly I left her out of the aviary one day with Mrs Spaniel supposedly watching her while I cleaned it out and she was silently taken by a fox (I assume).

I'd love another but she bought a lot of rats into my garden which decimated my aviary.

 

[dorsetladette]

I love this! I had Henny Potter who I found roaming the streets October 2018. It wasn't until end of Feb 2019 that she started laying. She was such a character, sitting on my shoulder like a parrot, bullying Mrs Spaniel, and doing her best to get into my house.
One day I found her upstairs sitting in the bath, another on the sofa having kicked over a box of after 8's and having a great time.
Sadly I left her out of the aviary one day with Mrs Spaniel supposedly watching her while I cleaned it out and she was silently taken by a fox (I assume).

I'd love another but she bought a lot of rats into my garden which decimated my aviary.

OH used to work nights so would come home in a morning let the chickens out, leave the back door open and fall asleep on the sofa in front of the TV. He would often wake up with a couple of hens sat watching the telly with him.

 

[Rumtytum]

A neighbour, Doreen the Egg (named for her knowledge of henkeeping) used to take in ex batteries. One of them starting building a nest and couldn’t stop, the sides ended up way higher than her head. Little thing was in heaven, I think she just couldn’t believe her luck.

 

[QuantockHills]

i'm a volunteer for Fresh start for hens, so it's great to have such lovely feedback. I help at a collection point and it's lovely to meet the re-homers and see the girls go off to their new forever homes. We are trying to have 'enriched' cages banned... please help our cause by only buying eggs from not caged hens.

 

[Cortez]

I've always had ex-battery hens, they deserve a chance after the horrible lives they have led and they really blossom. It does my heart good to see them basking in the sun, scratching in the grass and just being chickens. The latest batch of 5 have laid 3-5 eggs daily consistently all winter so they are really repaying me; I do have lights on morning and evening though.

 

[paddy555]

This makes me realise how much I miss hens. I would love to have some and am very jealous. However we have foxes and in the past lost over 150 hens, bantams and geese to them. They took 8 full size geese that were enclosed . Once the fox gave up as there were none left the hawk took over and took ducks and a rabbit that lived free in the garden. To fence sufficiently well to protect them they would have to be in a small area with no chance to free range even in the garden.