Back garden chicken-keeping has boomed over recent years and thousands of homes now have happy hens pottering about.
Many of these are ex-commercial birds, either from battery farms or from barn or free-range flocks. They are bred to do a job laying eggs and at 72 weeks old their productivity drops and they are pensioned off.
Some are put into the animal food chain, but tens of thousands survive to be rescued by groups like Fresh Start for Hens, the British Hen Welfare Trust or a host of local charities. They are then re-homed by enthusiastic keepers.
Last summer we took on four rescues from Watton branch of Fresh Start for Hens; Flora, Daisy, Isobel and Myrtle. They had clearly had a hard life as working birds but blossomed with a bit of love, space and good food!
Having hens can be hugely rewarding – and here are seven reasons we think you might like to try it.
Eggs
Even though your girls may not be productive enough for commercial laying, the chances are they will still be popping out eggs for you. It might not be every day, and they’ll stop while they moult, usually in the darkest months in winter, but a flock of six birds could give you two dozen eggs a week or more. And they’re as fresh as can be!
Education
Looking after animals is a brilliant, fun way for youngsters to learn. Chooks are quite easy to care for and children love feeding them, giving them snacks, recovering the eggs and helping clean the coop and run. Ex-commercials can be wary of being handled, but some love a cuddle, which is a bonus.
Feel-good factor
A bit left-field this one, but having these little birds ambling around happily is good for the soul. Don’t forget that you have saved their lives! Just watching them fanning their feathers in the sun, or hunkering down into their favourite dust-bath, or preening themselves, can be very relaxing. When they come to you the birds can be short of feathers and scraggy; building them up into gorgeous girls is reward in itself.
Sounds
The noises that happy hens make in a garden is a bit like the relaxing sound of running water. As they wander about, they’ll chirrup, bok-bok and generally chatter away. If you’re doing some gardening, they’ll be fascinated by what you’re up to and be asking you all sorts of questions! They can be a bit raucous when laying, or if they feel like a bit of a shout, but they’re certainly nowhere near as noisy as a cockerel.
They are all different
Despite being from the same breeding stock and living in the same place for most of their lives, they all have their little quirks and foibles and they are all individual characters. In our flock Isobel started out as the loner, but soon became the nosiest and bravest bird, even escaping a couple of times! Daisy always wants to come into the house, Myrtle is the top bird and Flora is the smallest, fastest and greediest of all. They love being together and usually stay close during the day before taking themselves off to bed before it gets dark. They are all inquisitive birds and will come running to you... especially if you have a snack for them!
Weeds
Chickens are very efficient gardeners and if you give your girls the run of your grounds, they will give it all a good going-over... but beware, they’ll eat your lovely flowers as well! They can turn a lawn into a bare patch too, but it will re-grow beautifully as they fertilise as they go along and eat many of the weeds. You can fence them in of course, keeping them away from your most precious plants, but give them plenty of space.
They eat anything
...almost. Chickens are voracious feeders and will eat until their crops are full to bursting. They chow down on pretty much anything; a good basic chicken feed is inexpensive as a core but you can add all sorts of fruit and veg, including peelings and tops (strawberry tops are a favourite) corn, seeds... avoid raw potato and one or two other foods, but chickens are pretty good at not eating things that don’t agree with them and info on what they don’t like is easily available on the internet.
Interested? Why don’t you have a look at the websites for some of the rescue groups in your area. They hold regular re-homing sessions and have loads of advice, help and tips for newbies. You never know, you could be enjoying the best-ever eggs for breakfast!
