Some very special things happen during a hen rehoming: precious lives are saved; hens are cuddled for the first time in their lives; wonderful, kind chicken-lovers from all over the county appear to offer a loving home to some girls and you get to meet some truly amazing people.
But there is nothing better than meeting a new rehomer for the first time and watching as they discover the unadulterated joys of keeping exbatts.
Two days before the rehoming a lady called Angie contacted me. Her mum was treating her to some chickens for her birthday and they had planned to buy some point of lay hens on the weekend of the rehoming. However, after seeing an article in the West Briton about the rehoming they changed their plans at the last minute and reserved four hens from me.
Fate they called it. And I agree!
Here are Angies replies to some of our standard rehoming questions:
Hen experience – It has been my dream for many years to have hens, our neighbours have hens that we look after when they are away, I have read many books on hens to gain knowledge and my friend also is an experienced hen keeper so I can pick her brains if I need to!
Hen accommodation – My husband has custom built our coop and run, it is plenty big enough for many more but want to keep numbers small and give them the best. We have all they need ready and waiting, all we need now are some girls!
Home for life– Yes! Absolutely, we have rescued dogs too (hence the need for a run for the chooks) Our animals are a huge part of our life and part of our family, the hens will be no different.
You just know those girls will be spoilt!!
Angie sent me some pictures of the beautiful, palatial coop and run they had built for their hens and so touched was I by this lovely home some of my girls would be living in I made a note to give her some of the more vulnerable, baldy girls. I knew they would be going to a good home. It is people like Angie that make the hard work of rehomings so very worth it.
I have tried to put into my own words all the updates that Angie has emailed to me but I think it is better in her own words. The way her enthusiasm, happiness and newly found love of her hens is captured in her emails puts it far more eloquently than anything I could have written.
Two days after the rehoming I received the following email:
Dear Jo, Our new girls are called Violet, Daisy, Wendy and Beaker (my fellas choice that one!) They are settling in very well, we have had four eggs since their arrival so have thanked them all! Violet is the bravest and is always first out and last in, Beaker needs to catch up a bit but I am sure she will.
The sun came out (very) briefly here today and Daisy looked up to the sky, thought for a moment and lay down and spread her wings for a sunbathe, lovely to see natural behaviours are
there. We are so thrilled and could just watch them for hours, don’t get much else done though. They aren’t at all worried about being close to us and milled around the run today while Pete tweaked some areas, not so keen on the rain though!
Angie xx
Reading this lovely email truly lifted my spirits and then another update came. The girls hated the rain so a roof was put on the run:
Dear Jo, they are all doing well, personalities are appearing now! The grass however has almost disappeared, as we expected! They so enjoyed rooting around in their quest though. Their new feathers have started to sprout, Wendy in particular looks hedgehog like with them growing on her back. I bought them an old baby bath and filled with dry soil and play sand, so far Daisy (who is the most inquisitive) is the only one to venture in, the others will follow her lead I am sure.
We have put up a “roof” over their run (clear tarpaulin) as it has done nothing but rain pretty much for the last week and a half, much more practical, I think they are a tad spoilt!
We have had some lovely eggs, three at the most in a day, sometimes one or two, they are a lovely bonus.
Angie xx
I feel blessed to be able to watch as Angie’s hens blossom under her love and devotion into the beautiful, happy, confident free range girls I know they will become. And just as the girls blossom, so will Angie’s love of her hens. Finding out what an absolute joy and wonderful, quirky, amazing pets chickens are was a discovery that changed my life.
I think it has already changed Angie’s.
That is so wonderful to read. Lucky girls. xxx
They are very lucky girls 🙂 xx
Wonderful words! They do change your life but only for the better. I love nothing better than pottering in the garden with the girlies getting under my feet and ‘bwaaark’ing if I happen to turn over a bit of ground that they were saving for later 🙂
Thank you!!! Mine get excited even if they just see a spade!! They know there will be a worm hunt!!
nice to see another persons life enriched by these wonderful creatures and the same for the hens.lovely emails x
Thank you Helen. Angie’s emails were just so full of love for her girls it was a shame to change them in any way!
Jo via you, well done Angie you won’t regret it!
Reading this just melts your heart – how precious for Angie (&Pete) and the hens to be at the beginning of a wonderful new experience, and life, that will change them all forever xx
It is so lovely to watch them discover how amazing hens are!!
What lovely news. These chickens will be so very loved – and they deserve to be. My 4 latest ones (from Aug) are the most inquisitive I’ve had yet. Hester litterally follows me up the stairs to check she isn’t missing out on anything and Peggy (who spent her first week with me asleep on my knee) is absolutely thriving. Each night she settles down in a nest box and waits for me to come and lift her onto her evening perch to be with the others. And I’m so daft I do it! She saw me coming didn’t she. Happy days. x
Oh no – she knows she is loved!!! She is a lucky girl!! Our Clara needed lifting in and out of the coop for weeks as she had such bad legs (after 2 years in a cage) she couldn’t walk. I alwasy find the most vulnerable are the most special xx
Lovely to read as we totally identify with Angie since our new girls (Agnes, Gladys & Maude) in August. When we 1st had hens we wanted ex batts but were scared off being first timers. How wrong we were! We’d never have any other hens. They are fearless, funny & full if life. They even forgive stroppy Flo for her persisting garden chasing antics. Honestly life enhabcibg:-)
Oh Laura I am so glad you are enjoying your exbatts!! They truly are the most amazing girls xxx
I have only just noticed these lovely replies. I am so grateful to Jo for her wonderful words about our girls-so proud! Three weeks in now and they give us so much joy, they continue to flourish, Pete has hand fed them spaghetti today which went down a treat! Thank you to everyone involved in rescuing these wonderful creatures, how lucky we are.
Your girls are just as lucky Angie!! I can imagine the spaghettie bing happily schlurped!!!
It disappeared very quickly! Feathers are coming rapidly now, they may need them soon, getting chilly! I just love being with them and watching them grow every day, still learning what they do and don’t like to eat, won’t touch cabbage but LOVE mealworms! X