A year ago I went off to the Battery Hen Welfare Trust collecting station in Oswestry to pick up three little ex battery hens and give them a new home. I was terrified that they wouldn't even survive the journey home as the change could have been so stressful to them. Even seeing daylight was a massive and new experience for them. But they did survive. Hope, pictured above spent the whole journey looking out to her new life while Faith and Charity sat hunched in the darkness of the cardboard box until I got them home.
After a long 2 hour journey we arrived home. I put them in a temporary pen away from my other girls in case they didn't get on. It was so incredible to see them exploring and experiencing freedom for the first time in their lives. They looked terrible as they had very few feathers on their necks and wings but to me they were beautiful. Within a week they joined my other girls in the big house and have enjoyed the most incredible year, starting with presents from Father Christmas an easter egg hunt and their own Olympic games.
One year later they look very different. I only took this picture this morning and as you can see my beautiful little Hope looks like she is on top of the world. Animals are incredible how they bounce back after such horrible experiences and take pleasure in the simple things in life.
It's been a wonderful year, they have supplied me with fresh free range eggs every day and saved me around £130 due to the fact that I have never had to buy eggs from the supermarket. Considering I gave a donation of £30 when I adopted them, that is an amazing return on my investment and one that continues to thrive inside the chicken coop.
