Jake Wood

Imagine our surprise when we heard our name mentioned during an episode of Good Morning Britain recently, and then discovering that the interviewee, who just happened to be EastEnders star Jake Wood, had adopted hens from us!

Cue excitement at Hen Central, and a flurry of activity trying to book our own interview with Jake and his wife Alison. Jake, who plays Max Branning in EastEnders and has also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, filled us in on what he loves about his feathered friends, and the joys of a fresh egg in the nest box. Enjoy!

1. Hi Jake! Thanks so much for agreeing to an interview in our Chicken & Egg magazine – it was a welcome surprise when we found out you had rehomed hens from us so, firstly, how did you hear about the British Hen Welfare Trust?

“My wife found you on Twitter or Instagram. We had chickens previously for about four or five years. Alison bought them for my 40th birthday but they all died of old age, so we had a period of not having chickens for a while and then wanted to get some more. Alison discovered your charity and what you did, and we are animal lovers anyway so thought it would be a great thing to do to give a home to some ex-battery chickens. Al did some research and found out about you guys and what you do, so we came along to a rehoming and picked six chickens up.”

2. You very kindly gave us a shout out during your interview on Good Morning Britain, and viewers were also given a glimpse of your hens -how have they settled in?

“We have lost two, but the remaining four are really healthy and completely transformed. They’re really happy chickens and come running when I go out looking for food, plus they’re laying like you wouldn’t believe.”

3. That’s so great to hear! What clever girls. So then, what are your favourite dishes to rustle up with your girls’ gifts?

“The classic egg on toast, scrambled egg and salmon, and the kids love pancakes. I’ve started to bring loads of eggs into work for the cast members as we’ve got so many and they’re getting rave reports. Once you have a real proper egg it’s totally different from anything you’d buy in the shop.”

4. That’s amazing to think the EastEnders cast are enjoying BHWT ex-bats eggs! Speaking of which, do any of them have hens too?

“Not that I know of, but they’re enjoying our eggs and they’re quite happy to take any extras I’ve got.”

5. Seeing as you’ve had chickens in the past, and were keen to get some more, what is it about our feathered friends that you enjoy most?

“They are just great to have. We all love eggs in our house, and there’s nothing like going out and getting a warm egg and putting it straight in the pan. They’re fabulous animals, great fun to watch, they’ve all got different characters, they don’t need much space and they’re really low maintenance so it’s a no brainer really. I’d recommend anyone to get them. They’re a great animal and a great addition to any family, and if you’ve got kids as well it teaches them about where food comes from.”

6. On to the mucky stuff – who’s on coop cleaning duty?! Do your daughter, Amber and son, Buster, help out, or is it left up to the parents?

“They don’t do as much as they should! They’re very busy with homework and hobbies, but of course they help, and they enjoy running out and getting the eggs in the morning.”

7. We know you have some furry friends as well as feathered – how do dog Buddy and cat Roxy get on with your hens, or do they keep their distance?

“They keep themselves to themselves really. When we had chickens before we found out they can really handle themselves. They gang up and the dogs were petrified of them, so we weren’t worried about that at all. They are dinosaurs aren’t they really, so they are quite robust!”

8. Is animal welfare close to your hearts?

“We’ve got chickens, dogs, cats and we’ve had stick insects, giant African snails, we’ve had turtles, fish. We’ve done the full gambit as a family. We’ve always been a household that’s had lots of animals around; they really add to a home.”

9. One final question, will you be encouraging anyone you know to rehome hens from us?!

“Chickens are amazing to have, and I think if you can give a home to a chicken that would otherwise be sent to slaughter if it wasn’t rehomed by you guys then 100%. You’ll be doing a great deed and within quite a short space of time their feathers regrow and it’s wonderful to see them getting back to what they should be doing, like dust bathing. There’s great joy in that, plus you get the benefit of the eggs, and they’re great little characters.”