I went to pick up some ex-battery hens today. It was a very moving experience as when I got to the pick-up point, I met many people carrying hens away in all sorts of containers to start a new and happy life.
Within minutes of completing the paperwork, I was presented with my three little girls, who only this morning would have been living a very different life to the one they are now.
I sat with them on the journey home, peeping at them often to make sure they were ok. I even ensured we had relaxing music for them as we drove along.
It was amazing to watch as I pulled the cover gently from the top, they all moved towards the corner of the box to be bathed in the sparkling sunshine that beamed through the car window. Maybe their first experience of sunlight.
On reaching home, we lifted them into their new coop and very soon they started to eat, drink and explore their new home and by dusk they obediently let me put them to bed.
So, this is a new life for Faith, Hope and Charity. In the months to follow they will join the existing team and show a different side of life inside the chicken coop.
