18th September 2010
Before you read this story you need to visualise the conditions my three hens (Penny, Hetty & Doris) live in. First there is their bedroom. This is a 5ft high wooden structure consisting of a long perch with poop ledge, 3 steps down to the main area and 2 nesting boxes. The small entrance to their bedroom is open for them to come and go as they please. It opens out into a fox proof covered area with food and drink a plenty. There is a gate that is left open most of the time leading into their “conservatory”, another section that is also safe from predators. This is where they spend their time when I’m out and about. They have an old dog kennel renamed the Play House (another favourite nesting place). They have a step with yet another nesting box on it, a brightly coloured green perch, a dust bath and a sun terrace! This on its own would be a wonderful place to live but it just gets better. When I am home they are in my ample garden scratching around, sun bathing and teasing my Jack Russell terrier, Buffy. They come into the kitchen when they get bored and they shout loudly until I take pity on them, it’s normally around 2pm and noodles are a firm favourite on the menu. Buffy of course gets to do a taste test first. Yes, my girls have it all!
Today was a very important day in our hen calendar. Dad and I went off to Oswestry to collect two battery hens. They were rescued this morning by The British Hen Welfare Trust. Our allocated time was 2.40pm and turning up a little early we were welcomed by four wonderful volunteers.
There were about 100 hens in various states of undress. They were in a holding pen then behind this there was a barn full hens – absolutely chocca block and every single one of them was going to a good home. I was asked did I want “with or without feathers”. I said I wasn’t bothered what they looked like so I was given one that looked quite healthy and another that looked the most bedraggled thing possible. The scrawny one showed true fighting spirit from the start. She didn’t want to be caught, but after a bit of a struggle, my volunteer managed to grab her. I have to point out at this stage how shocking it was to see these girls. Nothing can prepare you for the terrible appearance of some of them – starkers all but for a tuft of feathers on their heads. What must their living conditions be like for them to get into this state?
Patrick and I had already decided on the names “Mary and Tess”. They are little survivors so we wanted a religious theme. I decided Mary would be the one with feathers; she seemed the gentler of the two. Scrawny was duly christened Tess because she looked just like Mother Teressa when she was old and frail. You can see the difference in them both here.
A donation of £3/4 was required per bird and I had decided to give £10. Well, I only had a £20 note so I said I’d give £15 then I felt it just wasn’t right to take the change so I said “Oh, keep the £20”. When I got in the car I had a big lump in my throat and tears stinging my eyes. “I’m not sad” I said to my Dad, “I’m just moved that these girls are all going to lovely homes after such an appalling life”. He then promptly gave me a fiver to add to their fund.
The girls were quiet as mice on the way home and once we arrived I put them in a small area within the “conservatory” that I’d sectioned off for them. They’d got the playhouse to sleep in and Dad had put up wire around to keep them in, then I put in lots of straw to keep them warm. When I tried to get them out of the cat box they’d travelled in Tess was first but she wasn’t having any of it. A feisty little thing she is. Wanted to bite me and claw at me – she was NOT coming. Eventually I got her out and then tried the same with Mary. A bit bewildered, she let me gently lift her out and they stretched out their legs and toes and got a feel for their new home.
I wanted them to get used to me so I sat on the step and chatted to them. It was raining. Not heavy rain, but a good steady drizzle was coming down. Dad brought me a cup of coffee and my waterproof – it was going to be a long one!
Doris was in her nesting box – day 12 – she loves to nest - and I had let Penny and Hetty out into the garden so it was just Mary and Tess and I.
Tess made a run for it almost straight away. The garden wire we’d put up had about 3” x 5” gaps and she was headed through one of them. So small was she that she almost got through. I grabbed her when she was half way struggling to get to the other side – I think she’d have done it too but I wasn’t letting her go.
After that we decided to put another layer of wire over just in case. The rain was still coming down and I thought “this is daft”. I closed the gate leading to the bedroom where Doris was happily ensconced and I let Mary and Tess have the Conservatory. This meant I could leave them on their own for a while to find their way around. I removed the towel from the cat box ready to clean it out and lo and behold what did I see? An egg. Just a little one, sort of greyish beige in colour. One of them had laid it on the way home without a sound. My other girls make such a fuss and nonsense about their laying procedure. They shout about the fact that they’re thinking about it, they sit for hours waiting for it to happen, then once laid, they strut about telling the whole neighbourhood just what they’ve accomplished. What a difference.
Mary spread her wings and fluttered them round quite a bit, she’d probably never had the space to do it before. Tess on the other hand just stood still. Bolt upright and like a statue. She stayed like that for such a long time. She didn’t move a muscle, didn’t turn her head, just stood, wondering what on earth to make of it all. I decided to go back in and try to get them used to me. Oh, it was still raining by the way but they were refusing to go into the Play House to shelter. They were feeling fresh air for the first time in their lives and nothing was going to stop them.
Next step was to bring Doris out. She is the most placid of our hens so I picked her up out of bed 2 and sat with her on the step in the Conservatory so she could see them and they could see her. I cuddled her for a few minutes and she was perfectly happy. A little curious perhaps but that was about all. By the time I put her down Mary was standing by the gate leading to the bedroom and Doris had to get past her to continue nesting. There was a moment – just that – a moment where Doris had a little warning peck at Mary that she was in her way, then she scuttled past and went straight into bed 2 where she continued nesting.
I left the inner gate open because I thought as they hadn’t had any trouble with Doris it would probably be OK. By this stage they were both tucking into the food that I’d put out for them but they were like untrained children. When Penny, Hetty and Doris eat, they all stand around the bowl and nibble away with good table manners. These two were a different matter all together. Their feet were in the bowls, they tipped things over, they ate off each other – they had obviously never been in this situation before and they just didn’t know how to behave.
Now it needs to be said that the rain was still coming down. I was starting to feel cold and I looked at little Tess. There are a few feathers on the back of her head, none at all on her neck, a totally bare chest and stomach, a few feathers on her wings and a totally naked bottom. The tail feathers were there but only the quill, no feathery bits to cover them. Yes, this bird was naked. She must have been freezing. She didn’t want to be caught but I managed to get her in a big towel and wrap her up. I took her into the bedroom where Doris was hanging out and I sat down and cuddled her warm. After a while her long scrawny neck relaxed and she got herself quite comfortable. When I put her down I hoped she would stay in the bedroom and keep dry but no, she was straight back out there.
I repeated this with Mary who didn’t put up anything like the same amount of fuss. She doesn’t seem fazed by me at all and is quite happy looking me straight in the eye while I chat to her. So, wrapped up in a towel, she was also cuddled and enjoyed a bit of “us” time. But like little Tess, she too was straight back into the open air as soon as she could be.
By this time Penny and Hetty were wondering what was going on. Penny can be a bit bossy so I was wary of letting her in, especially with her counterpart Hetty – together I thought they may be a bit too much for Mary and Tess to take on. I shouldn’t have worried though, I let them come into the Conservatory and Hetty had a little look at them but didn’t bother with any pecking order behaviour. Then Penny perched high up from Mary on the dust bath, gave her a bit of a “Paddington Hard Stare” and then ignored them both. Quite frankly it all went without a hitch!
By now it was 7pm. Yes, I’d been out in the rain for 3 hours trying to keep them all happy and now I really was cold. Mary and Tess were wet through and although Penny and Hetty were too it didn’t seem to show up on them much at all.
When I first compared Tess to Mary, Mary seemed so much healthier. She looked fat compared to Tess; she had a full body of feathers and looked rather good to be honest. Now, comparing them to my other three I really saw the difference. The feathers on Penny and Hetty are so dense that the rain water just touched the surface and slid off. Yes they were wet but not wet through. While Mary has far more feathers than Tess, she doesn’t have enough to keep the water off her little body. It went straight through her feathers and she looked ever so bedraggled. Also, compared to Tess she looks quite large, but when the other two came in Oh my, I realised just how under nourished Mary is too – not just Tess.
Before I came inside I wanted them all in the bedroom together. Yes, Mary and Tess could easily have stayed in the play house but I thought as they all seemed to get on ok it would be prudent to get the new girls to sleep in the main bedroom so they would all bond quickly and hopefully keep each other warm.
At 7.30pm I finally got them all into the bedroom. Doris by the way had stayed nesting in bed 2 the whole time – not a peep out of her.
I had a shower to warm myself up then Dad called round with Buffy. He came with me to shine the torch so I could check up on my girls. Doris was – guess where – yes, nesting in bed 2. Penny and Hetty were up on the perch above her, Mary was on the floor by the main door and Tess was on their staircase (some bits of wooden crate formed like stairs to get up to their perch).
Both Dad and I were concerned for Tess’s wellbeing so I got a small towel and laid it over her. Then I covered their entrance / exit so there was no draught for her.
I just hope she won’t be too cold. The bedroom is very well insulated but with her not being snuggled up to the others I’m worried that she’ll freeze.
This has been a most satisfying day. I’ve been near to tears a few times, I’ve been wet through, and my fingers have been numb and white from the cold. It was worth it though, worth every single minute. Tomorrow Mary and Tess will be free ranging along with Penny, Hetty and Doris (if I can get her out of bed no. 2). My girls only know what it’s like to roam free. They have a very large pen for when I’m out, they let themselves in and out of their bedroom so can come and go as they please and they have room enough to spread their wings, climb onto perches and sit in the sun. Even so, I dash home from work, from coffee with friends, from anywhere I’m enjoying myself. Yes, I dash home to let these darling things out into the garden. They don’t know what it’s like to be on a production line, to never have seen the sun, to never have felt the rain, to never have walked and spread their wings. They have had the perfect life. Now Mary and Tess can share this little hen paradise and live a long and happy retirement.
So what next? I was firmly fixed on stopping at the five that I now have but I feel two more may be needed to complete the set. Helen and Joan – of Troy and Ark respectively. Real strong women of history – that’s what these battery girls are – little fighters, survivors who have finally been given the opportunity to lead the life they deserve.
19 September
Mary and Tess have indeed been completely free range today. By the afternoon they were tentatively stepping out into the garden and mixing happily with my other 3 girls. Happy happy hens!
