My dream for laying hens

So what’s this all about this hen zeitgeist that seems to be taking place across the country?! Did I ever imagine when I drove along country lanes that I would be rehoming our ONE MILLIONTH hen this year? Not in a million did I.

I still headshake at the thought we have almost helped that many hens and for me our rehoming work really has proven that you can shift a culture, you can change hearts and minds. Doing it in the positive way as we have, has brought along with us all those involved in poultry.

In the early days the objective was to give consumers more information about the eggs they were putting in their shopping baskets. Underpinning the objective was an ethos that has allowed the charity to flourish exponentially; being pragmatic, compassionate, innovative and positive.

Valiant Volunteers

The charity’s success lies in the successful teamwork between stakeholders. Take the volunteers for example, there are over 1,400 hen-loving people from all walks of life who get up at the crack of dawn, work an arduous 8-10 hour day and then go home with the warm and cosy glow that comes with saving the lives of hundreds of commercial laying hens destined for slaughter. The camaraderie within teams is clear to see and the need for a pragmatic approach to their task obvious.

We Need our Farmers

Without the farmers the charity would have no supply of hens so from day one they have been the lynchpin; the objective to collaborate in a respectful way building trust and solid relationships as thousands of hens have been depopulated year in and year out. Finding areas of mutual benefit has also proved it is possible to bring seemingly differing standpoints together, successfully.

The charity has long been keen to dispel any view that farmers are the baddies in the welfare stakes; the plain fact is that farmers need to make a living, poor welfare impacts production and so healthy happy hens equate to a better bottom line. Supermarkets and consumers are the ones that ultimately hold the key to welfare (of both hens and farmers).

On the contrary we like to work with farmers on initiatives such as our Size Matters campaign and we like to support wherever we can.

Changing your Hearts & Minds

Of course, most importantly it is the great animal-loving British public who have made the 1,000,000th hen a reality. Ever since the first 100 hens were offered up for adoption, kind-hearted people have not hesitated in coming forward to give something back to these hardworking little birds that often didn’t get the chance to even step on grass or experience the pleasure of sun on their feathers. Tens of thousands of adoptions have taken place since the charity began, the average flock size being 4.5 hens and around 50% coming back for more, so addictive are they.

Sense of Purpose

For me the charity has given my life a true sense of purpose. Firstly in helping what I always see as the underdog of the animal world, but secondly – and somewhat surprisingly – it’s the power of the hen / human connection that has been the most rewarding. I had no idea that hens would give so much back to us – whether that’s in entertainment, in an improved sense of well-being or simply in giving delicious eggs in return for their lives.

Am I looking to meeting the one millionth hen – I don’t know where she’ll come out from, but yes I hope to see her or at least pictures of her going to her new home. And from there, where do I hope we head as a charity?

Onto our hen number 2,000,000 of course.

Along with many other projects, collaborations and wonderful ways in which to promote the JOY of keeping HENS AS PETS.