How middle class am I? Proud owner of four feathered chooks, which we rehomed a year ago. They were collected courtesy of the British Hen Welfare Trust, a charity which finds homes for ex-battery hens.
At the age of 18 months these birds are deemed unproductive. When they reach this stage, the hens naturally begin to lay fewer eggs which are not quite so uniform and due to the harsh realities of the egg business, older ladies are culled. It is more profitable to start over with fresh young hens, in a never-ending cycle.
So there are a lot of chickens around the globe. Hens are the most common farm animal, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation. In 2010 there were about 20 billion chickens in the world reared for meat or egg production, compared to just under 1 billion pigs, about 2 billion sheep and goats, and 1.5 billion cattle and buffaloes. The numbers involved are astronomical, intense farming relies on high volume and yields and economy of scale.
Before coming to live in our back garden our hens lived in large industrial sheds, in cages which each house up to 80 birds, one cage piled on top of each other. All their basic needs are fulfilled, however, to me that isn't enough. I wanted them to experience the outside world, sunlight, dust baths, scratching about catching bugs and worms, free-ranging the way they should.
Keeping poultry in our back yard has been a blast and I have enjoyed the whole experience, I'm grateful they are still around one year on living their best chicken lives.
My aim was to give them a higher quality of life with time outdoors free-ranging. My goal is for them to outlive the time they spent in cages. Our four rescue hens; Betty, Gladys, Mary and Patti are all characters.
As a result of their sheltered upbringing, the girls are not really world-wise. I read somewhere chickens have around 30 different vocalisations or sounds they use. They have been shown to have a noise linked to their owner which they teach to new flock members. The Latin name for them is Gallus Gallus domestica which does make me giggle.
Hens normally have a distinct noisy song which they sing after laying an egg. Roughly translated it means 'look at me aren' t I clever'. However I have discovered rather worryingly our girls sometimes use it as a warning call. Once I spotted them all singing to the nice big bird who had landed in the garden, a sparrow hawk that was opportunistically scoping out its next meal.
We also have squirrels and crows who like to grab a free lunch. I've lost count of how many times I have rushed outside just in case the girls are under attack. The family think I'm obsessed, but it must be the nurturing or mother hen instinct in me, I don't want them to come to any harm.
Sometimes hens are smart. Mainly when there is grub to be had, they are very food focused, so will get over excited about the chance to eat sunflower hearts or mealworm treats. They adore worms and so recognise the garden fork instantly, it is almost revered as God like object. Although they have no experience of danger or spacial boundaries. So I've physically lifted them up with a clump of earth on the fork, in their excitement of getting to a worm first.
They also think spaghetti is pretty amazing, and I had to quickly tie my shoelaces quickly as Betty got a bit confused. Bless.
They are highly social animals and spending time with them is entertaining and great for your mental health. Poultry keeping is an addictive hobby I can highly recommend.
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