The joy of keeping Chickens — Grow Batheaston - Creating A Sustainable Way Of Local Life

“I’ll never get chickens...” I said...

While keeping hens is not necessarily key to the concept and vision of Grow Batheaston, I do think there is a relationship, as of course chicken poo does make for good fertiliser for my veggie patch. This article tells the story of how I became a slightly mad chicken lady.

Friends have always said “so when are you getting chickens?” I said it was never going to happen as a) their poo smells really bad, and b) I just don’t find them that interesting...

While enjoying a brief break in Covid restrictions, we decided that when we got back we would actually take the bold step and get some chickens. I did some research and found that the British Hen Welfare Trust (https://www.bhwt.org.uk) rehomed as many chickens as they could that would otherwise be destined for slaughter. When laying hens reach around 18 months, be they organic, free range or caged hens, they are no longer commercially viable for egg production, so off to slaughter they go. While I have always bought free range eggs and tried to avoid egg products not made with free range eggs, I know I may have been guilty of contributing to the caged hen egg industry by some of my impulse purchases. I felt we should be able to provide a home where a handful of these poor hens could live out their lives, doing what hens should be able to do naturally, such as flap their wings in fresh air, dust bath, scratch, forage and eat worms.

Of course we were absolute hen beginners, but after lots (and lots) of research we knew the home we wanted to build. Summer 2020 Lockdown provided the perfect timing to convert a shed we found on marketplace and create a fox secure run. We also fenced off an area of underutilised garden, that would serve as their free ranging area. My husband is awesome at making stuff and it wasn’t long before a fantastic new home was ready for the hens. We learnt that the girls would be ex-caged hens so we prepared ourselves for collecting some pretty straggly looking birds. At the farm I handed over two large boxes, with the recommended ventilation and moments later we had our hens. We had planned on 8 hens but the BHWT always ask if you can accommodate a “Lucky,” which we could. Our Lucky was then named Lucky, the smallest and baldest of all the hens.

When we arrived home we popped them inside ‘Cluckingham Palace’ and waited for them to explore their surroundings. They stood almost in shock for a while, then began to scratch at their straw (only the best dust free, enriched with rosemary oils!) and then emerged into the run where they began to display all those hen behaviours they should always have been able to.

The first night I shut their door I worried that the hungry foxes that lurk around the Lane would break in and scoff our hens! BUT I knew we had done an amazing job at fox proofing their home and it would take a fox with a utility belt and shovel to penetrate the several layers of defence.

The hens became mesmerising. I could sit and watch them for hours, watching them grow in confidence and displaying more and more natural behaviours they could not in their last home. The eggs came thick and fast, which surprised me, and we now have a constant supply of eggs, even in this cold weather.

I joined a few specific rehoming Facebook groups so I could learn more and it soon became apparent that hen owners really really love their hens! They invite them into their homes, feed them the most luxurious of diets, and enjoy the affection that their hens lavish on them! As our hens have grown in confidence, I do not see any affection from them at all! I am just the being that brings them food or allows them more freedom when I open their run door. I am also the one that can lift the heavy rotten logs exposing big fat juicy worms, millipedes and woodlouse for them to gobble up. They look prehistoric, all scaly and almost angry looking. I keep looking for the glimpse of a ‘kind eye’ that is always present in my two dogs, but nothing. I walk around the run asking “who wants a nice cuddle?” Only for them to cower and shudder when I am close enough to pick them up. I swear they are all working together to trip me up and then one day will peck me to death like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park! They too must be feeling frustrated as their movements have shrunk due to the Avian Flu restrictions, but I am trying my best to enrich their lives with culinary delights such pea and spinach porridge with a sprinkling of sunflower seeds!

I watch them daily as they scratch around to expose the earth looking for the next live insect to devour. How they rush to the fence the minute anyone leaves the house to see what offerings will be delivered. They are the most fascinating of creatures and I’m convinced they make the perfect pet for children, as they are just so interesting. There is also the biggest question in life as to what came first, the chicken or the egg? I do think I know the answer to ‘why the chicken crossed the road’ as it’s surely for food!

At dusk they pop themselves to bed and protest if you try beforehand. I just adjust the alarm on my phone accordingly in fear that I would ever forget to close the hatch. I don’t know if the girls knew each other in their caged home, but I do know they seem to get on well. At night time two sit side by side on the perch, sharing their warmth, while another two sit all puffed out on their laying boxes, almost smug that they bagsied the best beds for the night.

So here we are, proud hen owners and I know we should have got them sooner. In these strange Covid times they have provided me with a sense of routine and purpose, I have enjoyed watching them grow in character, grow soft and thick feathers and of course we have all enjoyed their rich yellow yolked eggs. I am not sure I want to let them loose to eat the slugs amongst my veggies as they too are very partial to the spinach! This does make for a very yellow yolk but I am afraid this is rationed as we humans love spinach too!