Latest news with #BritishHenWelfareTrust
BBC News
17-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Hens looking for a 'bit of TLC' after spending lives in cages
Hundreds of hens are looking for retirement homes and "a little bit of TLC" after spending their lives in cages, a charity Mapp from the British Hen Welfare Trust said the 200 to 250 hens that need rehoming in Gloucestershire will be slaughtered if they do not find homes by Friday.A rehoming event will be held in Berkeley on Saturday for those who have expressed interest to the trust's rehoming Mapp said of the hens: "They've never been outside, they've only stood on a wire cage before, they've never been on grass... you are not only saving their life but you are changing their entire world." At 18 months, hens still lay eggs but the rate slows, so farmers send them for slaughter, Ms Mapp said."They've got so much more life left to give, which is why we step in and save as many as possibly can," she said."We still get people saying, 'Well, hens aren't in cages any more', which is, sadly, incorrect. "Barren battery cages, where a single hen or a few hens were kept in a much smaller cage, were outlawed in 2012 and replaced with colony cages. "About 80 hens are kept in a cage and they get about as much space as an A4 piece of paper."This can cause a range of health conditions including feather loss and skin damage. Ms Mapp said the trust had received an amazing response but would still like to hear from anyone with extra space in their back garden for chickens as they are "really easy pets to keep"."These little hens are incredible, they're so resilient but, for the first few days, it's quite bewildering for them," she said."They do need a bit of coaxing out of their coop and putting to bed at night but they adapt really quickly and become incredible pets. And they lay eggs as well!"The trust hopes to rehome a total of 700 hens by Friday, with others needing homes in Devon and Oxford.
The Guardian
05-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Country diary: Rescued hens are among the spring arrivals on the farm
The first crocuses have come out this week, the winter jobs have been finished and we are getting ready for lambing. This winter we planted more than 1km of new hedgerows and an orchard of 16 fruit trees: local varieties of apple and damson sourced from a nearby orchard group. We also repaired drystone walls and fenced off some ruined buildings in danger of collapse. Attention now turns to spring and new life. We hopefully start lambing on 12 April, but before then the sheep pens must be disinfected and set up in the shed as a sort of hospital ward for yows who have a difficult birth or find it hard to bond with their lamb. Most yows have a strong mothering instinct and immediately care for their newborns, but we need to have a backup plan for any who struggle. As I wrote last month, we have been waiting for the other half of a sustainable farming incentive scheme agreement, and thankfully that came through. But the latest shock from the government is that it is closing the scheme. It was only luck that I submitted the latest application when I did (I was going to wait until after lambing, but changed my mind). Several of our friends and neighbours hadn't submitted theirs and now are at a loss as to how they will fund environmental work on their farms. A new version of the scheme is supposed to be coming, but to close a funding scheme with no notice (there was supposed to be six weeks' notice) makes it very stressful for everyone trying to farm in a nature-friendly way. We have just collected some hens that had been rehomed by the British Hen Welfare Trust. These are ex-commercial hens that will have a home for the rest of their lives on our farm, where they can be ridiculously free range and entertain us with their antics, dust-bathing in the farmyard and digging up the garden. They will also provide the three generations of our family that live on the farm with tasty eggs for breakfast. Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian's Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at and get a 15% discount
