Battery Hen Dorothy when she first arrived at Hedgebottom Home

I’ve never been comfortable with the concept of battery hens, and when you think how little room they have and what our girls are doing now then it’s free range every time for us, I know it costs more, but then it should be a treat shouldn’t it?

This is the link to the Trust, click here,  just look up your nearest contact and they’ll be in touch as soon they can, I did think that out of our eight, we would lose some due to stress but it looks like they’re all here to stay.

Early July 2008 saw the arrival of our eight ex battery hens. My God Children have named them so in no particular order they are :-   Violet, Ruby, Shirley, Molly, Henny, Penny, Dorothy and Harriet.

Always wanted to keep free range hens, and it was after seeing something on the television that I came across The Battery Hen Welfare Trust and decided that was the way to go.

Dorothy the 'ex-bat' shortly after arriving at Hedgebottom Home

Having never kept them before you do tend to read up on everything and want to make sure you get it right, but it’s only once they are with you that you really get into the swing of things and then you learn as you go along. I have to say they are addictive, and the best thing has been watching them go from little bald alien type creatures, very quiet and subdued to gorgeous, independent, feisty, funny birds who produce eggs for you, mind you, if you were to work out how much it costs to set them up, house, fencing, feeders etc they will be the most expensive eggs for a while but so worth it!
Just look at her now. One of our 'ex-bats' six months after arriving at Hedgebottom Home
Just look at her now!