THE WALKMILL EX-BATTERY HENS ARRIVE!
Yesterday we collected six ex-battery hens from a farm in Oswestry, our girls have come all the way from Bristol! We are told that they are around 12 month old Warren’s (the breed).Â
The Walkmill Ex-Battery Hen
In anticipation of their arrival Brian has repaired our old hen house which fell into disuse as our ten rare breed hens moved into a lovely new shed some months ago. The new and old hens share a large run, however, they will remain segregated until the new arrivals are up to full strength. When they are fighting fit they will become true free-range hens with access to The Walkmill’s orchard and gardens - some 4 acres!
We can report that all six hens have ventured out into their new run and have started eating and drinking. Also they have laid 5 eggs today! These will be eggs which were already in their systems so we expect egg production to stop for few weeks as they settle in, and to resume in early to mid-February.
The six hens are in varying conditions. ‘Govida’ is almost naked whilst Nicole has only a few feathers missing. However we are confident that within 6 weeks they will all be fully feathered once again.
You may know that the law has changed with regards to caged birds however even with these ‘improved’ conditions room is still very limited. We would therefore encourage you to only buy free-range eggs or why not keep your own hens? We’d happily share our experiences with you. They make lovely pets!
Our hens came from the http://www.bhwt.org.uk/, to date they have re-homed almost 30,000 battery hens.