Little Hen Rescue

Rescued Isa Warren Hen

"Giving ex-battery hens a second chance at a wonderful free range life." Little Hen Rescue, Greenways, Flordon, Norwich. NR15 2QL

Little Hen Rescue are a 'not-for-profit' organisation, this means that every donation that goes to them goes back into the organisation much like a charity. Everybody who works and helps are there on a voluntary basis. They are a work in motion, everytime they have a rescue another enclosure is erected, or more poultry crates are bought.

Their aims are to give farmers another option to slaughter, as they and lots of you know these hens have so much more to give and many more years of happy egg laying. They rehome the hens on to people like yourselves with a good pet home for life.

The regularly save battery hens (typically warren hens), barn and free range laying hens, and have set dates to collect from their regular farmers.

They are running on the bread line due to high overheads and their 'we take all hens' rule, this means all the hens in the farm are taken when they arrive to collect them. As you may or may not know there are a small number of hens needing more time due to stress, wounds, broken limbs or deformity , these hens are the ones they treat and rehabilitate at Little Hen Rescue base in their hospital wing. Medicine and medical supplies come at a high cost so every donation is a god send.

They are based on a 2 acre plot in Norfolk, they rely on the good will of sponsors, farmers and re-homers alike.

Little Hen Rescue occasionally take in cockerels and other types of poultry such as turkeys, peafowl, quail, ducks and geese.

All homes are to be pet homes for life and their re-homed birds will remain on their data base, incase of future check-ups.

Contact Details for Little Hen Rescue are:

Telephone 07717757596
Email [email protected] http://www.littlehenrescue.co.uk

Comments for Little Hen Rescue

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Sep 10, 2011

Chicks, Chooks ...A Hen by any other name..
by: Steph Newton.

Little Hen Rescue do a marvellous job under intense pressure. They look after sick and poorly hens when the get some ex battery hens and find them a permanent home.
If you have any problem ata all you can always phone for advice. Nothing is ever too much trouble. They rely on contributions from members of the public for helping towards costs and you can also "give on-line".

The lady who is responsible for creating this group is Jo Eglen. Many of the 5,750 chickens Jo saved were so stressed they had lost their feathers.

So she asked locals to knit them jumpers.

And she received an amazing 1,500 in just two months.

Mum-of-two Jo, a teaching assistant of Norwich, Norfolk, said: "We've had so many different kinds ? Christmas-themed jumpers, multi-coloured ones, some with bows and stripes."
She started rescuing battery hens and finding them new homes after visiting a farm. She said: "I saw how they lived and died. I just thought it was such a waste of life."
Jo Eglen, who set-up the rescue centre in 2008 at Newton Flotman, asked BBC Suffolk to help find homes for the birds using the airwaves:
"It's the biggest operation we've ever done. We've done 2,000 with help from another chicken rescue, but never 4,000 on our own.
"In the intensive farms, their egg-quality goes down, but once they're out in the open and free-range they will lay an egg every day for you.
"A bag of food costs about £6 and if you've got six hens that'll last you three weeks."
The British Egg Information Service (the egg industry's promotional wing) says around 10 billion eggs are consumed in the UK each year - and of those 8.5 billion are produced here.
Of those, 58% are from battery hens (or 'caged' birds as the industry calls them), 38% are free-range or organic and 4% are barn eggs. The Service's spokesman Kevin Coles said: "We produce eggs from caged birds because the consumers want to buy them.
"The UK has the largest free-range flock in Europe, but there are consumers out there who want the cheapest [battery/caged] eggs and if the UK didn't produce them, they'd be produced elsewhere."
Mr Coles said standards are in place for caged birds: "Losing feathers isn't a problem for the birds. They lose them through rubbing on the bars of their cages.
"It doesn't look nice, but the welfare conditions they're kept in are important. If the birds are stressed or unhappy, they'll lay fewer eggs and that's not in the interests of the farmer.
"Consumers will vote with their pockets ultimately."
Chickens are quite easy to keep and endear themselves to you within a few days. There are so mant types to enjoy, so do your homework before you part with money. Again Little Hen Rescue will advise too.

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