Henny Penny

Yes, hens in a pen, or at least given a bit more space to roam. Melanie came up with a good idea of extending the girl's run by using some of the wire frames (part of the pen we temporarily had them in on day one)to contain them from the rest of the garden.

We still have a garden opening for Wilmslow Wells for Africa to come next month, and judging by their raised earth policy, I think it best we keep them on the 'scrappy' lawn outside their run.

I must admit they seem very happy and when I gave them more water yesterday, they started to try and eat the laces on my shoes!

All Them Eggs

I thought it was time to show you the results of having eight hens, just look at all those eggs! The small ones are from our two bantam hens Rhodey and Red (Rhode Island and New Hampshire Red)and this is only what was left after we gave a dozen to Lou my mother in law next door. They are really molting quite a lot now, but certainly they are doing well in the egg laying department. Because they have been in small cages, their wings are still quite weak and one was seen to almost fly up to the outside perch, before smacking into it at breast height!

Birds of a Feather Molt Together

At two weeks and two days, the feathers have started to fly! That is because our girls have started to molt in a big way god bless em! With our garden open this last weekend for the NGS, they did not look quite at their best, but they were still very popular.

I will post another video with some garden highlights, and of course some more pictures of the girls and how they managed all that excitement.

After One Week

So a week has passed now since we collected our six hens and I must say they have settled in very quickly. We have a hen run that consists of a covered roost that they sleep and lay in, and an outside area where they eat and have the odd dust bath!

The video show them inside and also outside their run. We sort of fence them in, although they are already being very cheeky and getting around the fences we have set up.

There is a power politics taking place with the one new hen who 'got in' with Rhodey and Red, hanging out with them, as if she had always lived there.

Day Four

It's day four since we collected our six girls and brought them back to Wilmslow. They are settling in very quickly and seem very content, but one! She looks like she has a broken wing as it is hanging down somewhat on one side.
Still she does not seem to bothered by it, apart from not being able to flap like the others. Already a 'pecking order' is being formed, with one of the new hens joining Rhodey and Red where ever they seem to go.

We have been letting them out on the grass at the bottom of the garden to peck around, while being contained by some chicken wired frames from the fold out coup we had them in on day one.

This posts picture was taken on my mobile. You can see what I think is the dominant new top hen, although still ranked as No3. Oh and we also had a very nice follow up email from the BHWT checking all is well and giving some contact details.

The Blog of our Rescue Hens

This blog is to show how easy and fun it is to keep hens, as well as saving ex battery birds from ending their poor short lives in a can of cat food.

We collected our six hens on Sunday 2nd May from a charity that saves ex-battery hens after they have 'given their best' as egg laying machines for the first 17 months of their lives. They are usually a Rhode Island Red hybrid, as these as super egg layers.

Once we got the girls back to the garden, we kept them in a fold out pen, not with our other two hens at first. We already had a bantum Rhode Island Red and a New Hampshire Red, who are getting on a bit at about five years old.