Here's a chance for a win-win. These chooks need rescuing or they're heading off for the slaughter house. You could adopt a few and get free eggs for the next couple of years, then obviously you would also be able to eat them as well or use them for cheap cat/ dog food if they were a bit tough.
Any extra day in your garden etc is an extra day of quality life for these birds!
Story reads:
A North Cornwall poultry farm is looking for volunteers to take hundreds of chickens and find them somewhere new to roost.
The hens have reached the end of their commercial egg-laying days but would still make ideal pets for local families and are more than capable of producing tasty free-range produce.
Now the charity, the British Hen Welfare Trust, is organising a "re-homing" day in Camelford on Sunday. Any chickens which are not found new homes will be sent for slaughter.
Local Co-ordinator for the charity, Michelle Ward, said: "What could be nicer than to embrace the spirit of Christmas by welcoming a few new members into the family fold? Ex-bat hens make gorgeous, endearing, funny pets and will usually lay an egg in return for good hospitality. They need a home for keeps though, not just Christmas, so please give adoption serious consideration.
"Ex-bats are simple to keep and have such friendly personalities, they will soon work their way into your hearts, and just think you could soon be enjoying free range eggnog with family and friends using fresh laid eggs!"
If you would like to offer some hens a home or have a little more room in your hen house and space for another Christmas stocking please call the charity at Hen Central on 01884 860084.
Top comments
eset12345
19 Nov 153#21
I wonder if they will have any reservations at handing some over if I turn up with my portable BBQ strapped to the roofrack :man:
Graham1979
18 Nov 153#9
Do I have to cross the road or will they come to me?
The Crew Designs to Mars80
18 Nov 153#5
Yeah to right - hard a hard life give them a easy retirement
All comments (35)
PrincessBubs
18 Nov 152#1
:smiley: good post!
Cazz51
18 Nov 152#2
Tweeted.Hope this helps?
Thanks for posting.
luvsadealdealdeal to Cazz51
18 Nov 151#3
Thanks, let's hope they get clucky
Mars80
18 Nov 151#4
Poor creatures. Let's hope for the best!
The Crew Designs to Mars80
18 Nov 153#5
Yeah to right - hard a hard life give them a easy retirement
dmister
18 Nov 151#6
Good idea - hope some people adopt them.
luvsadealdealdeal
18 Nov 15#7
I used to be a Young Farmer & we had 'speed' chicken plucking competitions when I was anout 11 or 12 - they would wring its neck beside you so the bird would still be thrashing round a bit, though dead.
When they're still warm, you can pluck them clean in about 3 minutes if you avoid tearing the skin.
effingandjeffing
18 Nov 15#8
this is the best thing i read on this site
Graham1979
18 Nov 153#9
Do I have to cross the road or will they come to me?
coyote1 to Graham1979
21 Nov 15#34
dalipsinghno1
19 Nov 15#10
good find, I hope they find suitable homes, I have a cat so it might become her dinner before the chance of laying it's first egg.... if she doesn't then the fox or other cats round the garden certainly will.
Graham1979 to dalipsinghno1
19 Nov 151#27
Thanks for letting us know.
mocmocamoc
19 Nov 15#11
Where do you buy the cages to keep them in?
ohmum
19 Nov 15#12
Pets at home do hen houses, as do Ebay etc. we had a cat, a dog and then had a total of 5 hens, the hens ruled the roost and the dog and cat have them a wide berth after the first peck on the nose!
kidgloves
19 Nov 15#13
What a clucking good idea
K0YS
19 Nov 15#14
can you take them to slaughter yourself?
luvsadealdealdeal to K0YS
19 Nov 15#16
There won't exactly be any follow up welfare checks lol
They will be about 72 weeks old, so another few years left in them, though. An 18 month old chicken is generally good eating (slow cook) - but better if you feed it well for a few weeks before preparing for the table.
batezy_1984 to K0YS
19 Nov 15#26
yep you could use the garden axe
fr3dy77_sp33d
19 Nov 15#15
very good post op. and bless north Cornwall poultry farm to come up with such a nice idea
eset12345 to fr3dy77_sp33d
19 Nov 15#22
nowt to do with being nice, its expensive to slaughter chickens, when you consider the meat would be next to worthless at that age.
giving some away is the difference between losing your profit you've made on the eggs for the month, or keeping a small profit
NIgelK
19 Nov 15#17
Tweeted and posted on FB
simonspeakeasy
19 Nov 15#18
Had 5 from a previous BHWT re-homing event. They really are very cute but they do poo a lot!
johnsmith1997 to simonspeakeasy
19 Nov 15#20
I assume most other animals need toilet too.:neutral_face:
dalipsinghno1
19 Nov 152#19
Worth contacting PETA to see if they have any idea on how to get them adopted by those who want to keep them to their natural life
eset12345
19 Nov 153#21
I wonder if they will have any reservations at handing some over if I turn up with my portable BBQ strapped to the roofrack :man:
mrcashman
19 Nov 15#23
I'm pretty sure that a farmer is paid money to have chickens slaughtered rather than him paying for the privilege.
You can make a hen house out of pretty much anything. They just need a perch for sleeping on, a nest box for laying the eggs and some layers mash with access to water. The more space you can give them the better.
thecynicalsaint
19 Nov 151#24
That's the problem with this site, you see something you never would have thought of acquiring, you have no real use for it, anywhere to put it, or the time to utilise it, but still want it just because.
CatseyesQQ to thecynicalsaint
20 Nov 15#30
Then go away and leave those who care to talk intelligently.
Shoesize to thecynicalsaint
20 Nov 15#31
So cynical........ strangely saintly, too.
trollipops
19 Nov 151#25
To be fair,its not actually free. Bhwt expects a minimum £3 donation per hen.
Franzkill
19 Nov 15#28
Chicken Simulator CONFIRMED!
ukwestspeed
20 Nov 151#29
be wary of this. We bought 8 ex bats, they are generally not well cared for and wont have many feathers (though they will grow back) or weight on them. You will also need some good fencing to keep the foxes out. Of course the reason they are available is they are coming to the end of their egg laying life, so you aren't going to get many eggs but you will be paying for their food. Also unless you are prepared to take things into your own hands, then your vet bills bills at a minimum of £25 a go will soon add up. On the plus side ours were very sociable
Tylluan
20 Nov 15#32
Two references to 'ex bat' as if by being all coy about it, they can avoid using the words "battery hens."
luvsadealdealdeal to Tylluan
21 Nov 15#33
Thought it just conveyed familiarity with the issues, myself
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Opening post
Any extra day in your garden etc is an extra day of quality life for these birds!
Story reads:
A North Cornwall poultry farm is looking for volunteers to take hundreds of chickens and find them somewhere new to roost.
The hens have reached the end of their commercial egg-laying days but would still make ideal pets for local families and are more than capable of producing tasty free-range produce.
Now the charity, the British Hen Welfare Trust, is organising a "re-homing" day in Camelford on Sunday. Any chickens which are not found new homes will be sent for slaughter.
Local Co-ordinator for the charity, Michelle Ward, said: "What could be nicer than to embrace the spirit of Christmas by welcoming a few new members into the family fold? Ex-bat hens make gorgeous, endearing, funny pets and will usually lay an egg in return for good hospitality. They need a home for keeps though, not just Christmas, so please give adoption serious consideration.
"Ex-bats are simple to keep and have such friendly personalities, they will soon work their way into your hearts, and just think you could soon be enjoying free range eggnog with family and friends using fresh laid eggs!"
If you would like to offer some hens a home or have a little more room in your hen house and space for another Christmas stocking please call the charity at Hen Central on 01884 860084.
Top comments
All comments (35)
Thanks for posting.
When they're still warm, you can pluck them clean in about 3 minutes if you avoid tearing the skin.
They will be about 72 weeks old, so another few years left in them, though. An 18 month old chicken is generally good eating (slow cook) - but better if you feed it well for a few weeks before preparing for the table.
giving some away is the difference between losing your profit you've made on the eggs for the month, or keeping a small profit
You can make a hen house out of pretty much anything. They just need a perch for sleeping on, a nest box for laying the eggs and some layers mash with access to water. The more space you can give them the better.