Our 2020 vision for a healthIER wealthIER Rossendale

Chickens

More and more people are now keeping their own hens, getting fresh, delicious eggs daily.

They are very, very simple to keep, and, make surprisingly good pets - they are incredibly friendly and therapeutic.

If you would like to know more, or, have any pictures and tales to tell, please let us know!

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Comment by Paul Scott-Bates on January 14, 2013 at 12:09: HI Rosalind

That's great!

Paul

:-)

Comment by Rosalind Cunliffe on January 14, 2013 at 11:56: Hi again Paul.

Thank you again for the info about BHWT. Just rang them up and booked 4 hens for 23rd March. :)

Comment by Rosalind Cunliffe on January 14, 2013 at 11:33: So sorry to hear about the loss of your beautiful hen Oreo.

Thank you for the info about BHWT. I have registered with them now.

Comment by Arlene J Harris on January 14, 2013 at 11:13: I'm sorry to hear about your hen, Paul. She had a good life with your family for 3 years!

Best wishes.

Comment by Liz Hyatt on January 14, 2013 at 10:56: Aw, I'm sorry to read your news about Orio Paul. It'll have been a bit of a shock for you to find her I'm sure. We get so used to our hen's that losing one is awful. I suppose one consolation is that she has died of old age rather than Mr or Mrs Fox catching her. Any lose is a sad lose though. Enjoy your day

Comment by Paul Scott-Bates on January 14, 2013 at 6:50: Yesterday morning, when I went to let The Girls our of their coop, I was greeted with quite a shocking surprise. Oreo, one of our original quartet, had died.

There didn't seem to have been any struggle or distress - she looked peaceful.

We'd had her almost three years and had bought her as part of our introduction to hens with Gladys, Amelia and Scarlet. She was named at the time by my Son's and his obsession with the biscuit!

Like the others, she was a lovely pet and will be missed by the family and the other hens who were clearly aware she wasn't there anymore.

Night Night Oreo.

Comment by Paul Scott-Bates on January 14, 2013 at 6:36: Hi Rosalind

I'd suggest getting in touch with the BHWT - we got four ex-batts from Rising Bridge about a year ago. They are always re-housing ex-batts.

Ours are still going strong and laying.

Good Luck!

Paul

Comment by Rosalind Cunliffe on January 13, 2013 at 20:46: Hi, I hear that egg farmers discard their hens after they reach the peak of production and I would like to rehome a couple of Hens. Does anyone know of any local egg farmers that I could get some of these hens from. I am buying a coop and would be happy to rehome hens rather than buying young chickens.

Comment by Paul Scott-Bates on January 7, 2013 at 12:51: The latest edition of the BHWT's Fresh Laid Bulletin is now available to read online.

Click here to read.

Comment by Arlene J Harris on October 27, 2012 at 9:41: Hi Sarah-Jayne, There is someone in Helmshore who may be able to re-home your friend for you; not themself, but knows of someone. If you're still interested please email me and I'll put you in touch ... arlenejharris@googlemail.com She's a very animal-friendly person so I think it will be a good home, but you can decide for yourself!

Arlene :o)

Comment by Arlene J Harris on October 26, 2012 at 0:09: Such a shame for you all - very sorry to hear that. I'll ask around in Helmshore for you.

Comment by Sarah-Jayne Evans on October 25, 2012 at 22:24: at the end of a very difficult week for me and my family, it got worse by a fox getting my chickens in the middle of the afternoon. i now have only 1 left and have made the decision to try and rehome her as its not fair to leave her on her own. if anyone thinks they can offer her a new home with some friends it would be much appreciated.
Thank you

Comment by Paul Scott-Bates on August 2, 2012 at 7:22: Nearly 6,000 lucky caged hens were given the opportunity to free range for the first time in July and the British Hen Welfare Trust have more booked for the same journey in August - so much nicer than heading to a slaughterhouse.

Have a look at the latest BHWT newsletter here - http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/162859/83e11e8feb/24001511/3c842...

Comment by Arlene J Harris on May 23, 2012 at 20:24: Just seen a For Sale sign for 'Chickens and Ducklings'. It's on Holcombe Road in Helmshore. Go past the White Horse pub towards Holcombe and a few yards further on your left hand side is a converted barn. It's there - forgotten the name of the house but you turn down a public footpath between the barn and a row of cottages to reach it. I'm sooooooo tempted!!

A word to anyone getting ducks - they may have their wings clipped but when it comes to escaping over fences - they can still JUMP!!!! ;o)

Comment by Paul Scott-Bates on May 23, 2012 at 12:01: Here's the link to the summer edition of the British Hen & Welfare Trust (BHWT) Chicken & Egg magazine.

http://www.netmailing.co.uk/ebooks/bhwt/2012/issue-2/newsletter/ind...

It's packed with chicken-related goodies and news, and has some gorgeous olympic themed hens in the Gallery!

To be able to view the magazine as a 'Flip Book' you will need the Flash plug-in on your PC or other device.

Unfortunately internet browsers on iOS devices and some smart phones (iPhone for example) do not yet support Flash so you will not be able to view the magazine in this way. There is a pdf download available on our their website home page for those who cannot view the animated version.

For those who are able to view the Flip Book, but find the text a little too small, it is possible to zoom into the page by simply clicking with the mouse on the page itself or by selecting the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen (6th icon from the left hand side). Clicking the page or magnifying glass a second time will zoom back out.

Comment by Arlene J Harris on May 12, 2012 at 7:48: Sounds very light for the size of it - perhaps it's only one yolk? It fascinates me how an egg is produced in the first place - all in 24 hours. Amazing!!!!

Enjoy it!!

Comment by Paul Scott-Bates on May 12, 2012 at 7:24: Hi Arlene

Blimey!!

Just weighed ours - it's a poultry 95g (pun intended!)

It's the size that is unbelievable - will probably let my Son see it tomorrow, then have a ceremonial cracking. Half expecting a full grown hen inside!

P

Comment by Arlene J Harris on May 11, 2012 at 18:14: What weight is it, Paul? Take a look at this link :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1221913/Hen-nyone-Farmer-wa...

The British record appears to be in January, 2009 set by a hen called, 'Little Lil' at a school in Gloucester. Her egg weighed in at 226g !!

Comment by Arlene J Harris on May 11, 2012 at 18:02: Even Incredible Edible!!

How many yolks will be inside, I wonder? It seems almost a shame to crack it open.

Do you think it could be a British record?

Comment by Paul Scott-Bates on May 11, 2012 at 9:57: We had quite a surprise (shock!) when we went to collect yesterdays eggs from the coop last night. One of the eggs is by far the biggest one any of our girls has ever laid, and certainly the biggest egg we have ever seen!

It measured in an a huge 75mm in length and 220mm from point back to point! I've looked on the internet and it falls around 30mm short of the World record, but, we still have a lot of sympathy for whichever of the hens was responsible!

The egg is so enormous that it won't fit into an egg box!

Dare I say that this egg in INCREDIBLE!