Battery Hen Welfare Trust

“Working to inspire a Free Range Future”

Registered Charity No: 1109060

www.bhwt.org.uk
Phone: 01769 580310
Email: info@bhwt.org.uk
Newsletter No 19 North Parks, Chulmleigh, Devon, EX18 7EJ

2009
Dear Supporters

I’m an optimist by nature preferring to

see a glass half full rather than half
empty. However, even my bright
vision for the future of the egg industry
has recently been challenged. As egg
producers face some of the toughest
choices yet and I get on my soapbox
for the first time – indulge me – I’ll
explain that the welfare of hens and
health of the UK industry is in our
hands more than ever. The BHWT
has always held dear its claim to care
about the egg producers as well as
the hens themselves, in our view it’s
impossible to separate the two, and in
this issue I’ll give you a good example
of why it’s so important to support
rather than condemn.
And, much as I’d like to spout about
rights for hens and support for British
farmers, you’ll be pleased to hear this
issue has all the usual fun items too!
Not least the results of our BHWT
Ex-Bat Beauty Contest with our
winning luscious layer preening her
Sunday best feathers as she takes the
title. Prepare yourselves for some of
the usual red carpet meets flashing
cameras meets celeb with whopping
ego shenanigans! Good grief.
We’re also delighted to announce the
long overdue return of our
Eggsellence Award and have the
usual crop of lovelies in our Gallery
along with more of your heart warming
stories.
Let’s hope we and all our feathered
friends enjoy a long, lazy, hazy
summer of warmth and sunshine –
would be nice wouldn’t it.

Jane
x
 Working with journalists is always double edged and contains a high risk
element. They love a story that sells and that usually means a bit of
sensationalism as a vital ingredient. Hmm, I don’t like sensationalism; it
causes all sorts of problems and of course battery hens provide just the
right emotive platform to maximize shock value. It made it all the more
rewarding then to work with three journalists recently, all of whom entirely respected the sensitive issues
surrounding the caged egg industry and all of whom worked closely with me to ensure that both respect and
balance were achieved.

Sarah Joseph, editor of the Muslim lifestyle magazine, Emel, adopted some of our girls from Tracey Longhurst
in February and produced a really warm, well balanced piece for the magazine. Sarah also recounted her
experiences of ex-bats on her regular “Pause for Thought” slot on Terry Wogan’s Show on BBC Radio 2;
reaching 8.2 million listeners in the process. Here is a small excerpt from her piece:
“They had all grouped together and were obviously bewildered. Our seven year old
daughter, with tears rolling down her cheeks, took me aside. “I don’t think I can do this,”
she cried. Some gentle and encouraging words later we found a hen that wasn’t too bald
for her to rescue. Our son chose a hen that had only one eye, “I doubt anyone will want
to give her a home.” Our nine year old daughter was matter of fact: “I’ll take any hens,”
she said firmly, “They all need a home.”
It made me tingle to read about such caring children and what hope for the future.

Before trekking off to report from Iran Catherine Nixey wrote an excellent upbeat article about the girls for the
Times Magazine in March and Helena from the BBC, who has some of our ex-bats, was there at the re-launch
of our Eggsellence Award in Kent – you’ll hear more about that later.

Three positive stories, written factually but with great understanding and care.

We also had slots on BBC Radio Northants and Cumbria;

then Adele went live on air on BBC Radio Lancs - when
she explained how as a general rule she picked up 360
hens at a time, the presenter commented on her
tremendous strength and needless to say the giggles
ensued; thankfully she did manage to regain decorum!

We also appeared in Country Life, Practical Poultry,

Kitchen Garden, Smallholder and Waitrose Illustrated.

Finally, Home Farmer, a magazine aimed at the growing number of

people who are looking for a better quality of life, healthier eating etc
celebrated its first anniversary by carrying a 10p donation to the BHWT
for every April issue sold. A lovely gesture from a lovely magazine; our
thanks to Ruth Tott and Paul Peacock for their kindness.
You may recall in the last issue that Ondine Walter-Browne’s hens regularly
send us their egg monies; well having seen themselves in the newsletter,
Richard here in the office received another email from the lovely layers of
Clacton-on-Sea:
“Chance, Clover, Daisy, Dandelion, Hope & Joy would like to say thank
you for their mention in the recent newsletter. They are coping well with
their new-found celebrity status and are sending more of their egg
money as they are still very much in touch with their roots and have not
forgotten where they came from! Many thanks from six much-loved ex-
bats.”
The email was accompanied by another £50 donation – those girls are
popping eggs for England it seems! Dandelion...taking it easy!

They’ve got competition Supporter, David Cox, gave the charity

though – Cobi & Mark
Snelson’s hens have
managed to raise £100 in
egg monies!
Yay!
confidence for the future by leaving a gift in
his Will; he also called into the office a few
weeks ago and gave me a lovely matching
chicken mug, coaster and teapot along with a
donation and card with kind and encouraging
words. How lucky are we.

Cobi & Mark Snelson

All places are now filled in the BUPA 10k in May, thank you to everyone
who applied, and we have seven runners currently getting fit around the
country. Trixy Gallagher made us laugh with her training programme:

“I was so pleased you picked me to do this run! It's just 3 months since I had my baby
& we have started enthusiastically training together (me running round the village
with the pram)! You'll be delighted to hear that I have already smashed my Just Giving
target of £500! Everyone knows how passionate I am about my lovely chickens, &
how hard we are trying, so they've been extremely generous. I've plenty more people
to pester yet, so I've raised it to £750... Raising money & getting my figure back - yay!
Anyway, thanks for the bits you sent me in the post. I'll be donning the T-shirt for my
run!”
Trixy has a page on the Justgiving site at www.justgiving.com/trixy. She’s already a Trixy Gallagher and daughter
winner in our eyes and a great illustration of the fantastic proactive support we get! Tallulah on their morning run.

We also have another

Finally in our fundraising section, I want to remember a much loved
five fab fundraisers
supporter, who sadly died recently. Rita McCabe followed my progress
who are making the
long before I had formed the charity; she trusted me and always gave
most of the Justgiving
me her steadfast support. Rita used to write articles for magazines and
website.
if a piece was published, would donate the proceeds to help more girls
Toni Clarkson, Lisa Cornish and Anna Allen enjoy a happy retirement. I met her
will all be taking part in the Bupa 10,000 fun Rita several times and on one occasion she
run in London on 25th May; super fit Angie presented me with a framed photo of
Evans will be running for the BHWT once some of my special hens which had
again in the Flora London Marathon on 26th appeared in a local paper; she was truly
April and Jo Cowper and Lucy Patterson are a kind and thoughtful lady. Rita’s family
doing the Exeter half marathon on Sunday 3rd have subsequently donated in her
of May. memory and I think Rita would be well
To sponsor any of our wonderful runners pleased to know that over £300 will be
simply visit their Justgiving pages at helping even more girls enjoy a free
www.justgiving.com/bhwt range retirement.
.
 It’s back – well it never went away really, we just
struggled to keep pace with its popularity. We’ve now
BHWT re-launched our Eggsellence Award and hope to be able
Eggsellence Award to present our prestigious certificate to any eating
establishment, whatever its pedigree, that uses only free
range eggs in its catering.

To get us kickstarted again Jayne Cox presented our first Eggsellence Award to Pembroke College
in Cambridgeshire.
Catering Manager, David Harwood, was delighted to receive the Award and explained that even
hidden eggs used as ingredients in the menus, like pasta and mayonnaise, contained only free
range eggs. “We’re delighted to be recognised by the BHWT. For several years now Pembroke
College has been at the forefront of ethical catering in Cambridge. The decision to only sell
free-range chicken and eggs is one of many ethically focused business decisions we have made.
Our ethical and nutritionally focused ethos has received widespread support from our student body
as well as a growing interest amongst green officers and students from many other Cambridge
Colleges.”

Helena Noifeld from BBC Radio Kent attended the presentation of an Award to the Twig & Spoon restaurant in Ash, Kent.
Helena was able to interview the restauranteur, Sandie de Rougemont; the farmer, Andrew and even got some lovely
background chatter from his flock of free rangers! Her report was broadcast in April. This particular presentation gave me a
lot of personal satisfaction; it took me a long time to win Andrew’s trust, but we have been working with him and his wife for
several years now, taking his caged birds before slaughter. Helena initially questioned us giving an award to a farmer who
still produces caged eggs and it gave me great pleasure to explain that Andrew is a perfect example of a British farmer with
the courage to invest in free range systems and raise welfare for the birds. He perfectly represents those we should be
supporting not condemning.

A few weeks later Jayne took a trip to London and presented an Jayne presenting the Harbour & Jones team
Eggsellence Award to our Patrons, Harbour & Jones at one of their with the BHWT Eggsellence Award
clients, St Paul’s Cathedral no less! Harbour & Jones do a great job in
promoting high quality and high welfare and it is a pleasure not just to
present them with the Award, but to be associated with such a
impressive company.

Three eggsellent examples of Eggsellence Award recipients I think

you’ll agree!
It’s going to take us a little time, but we will endeavour to expand the
list of eating establishments on our website; we’ll be asking for your
suggestions next time around.

Hen Parties
Volunteer, Jayne Cox, has been busy. In between presenting Eggsellence Awards and researching consumer issues, she’s
been holding hen parties on our behalf too. Jayne holds parties every 6 weeks or so and anyone interested can contact
Jayne at jayne.cox@bhwt.org.uk or telephone her on 01234 714697 (9am – 5pm Mon – Fri only please).
If you’re on the east side of the country our lovely support co-ordinator Lesley Austin also offers Hen School help for
beginners and you can contact Lesley at lesley.austin@bhwt.org.uk or by phone on 01473 657493 (Mon/Wed & Thurs 9am
– 7pm).

Egg Sarnies … how d’you like yours?

For goodness sake, we all know what makes for a perfect egg sarnie. I had a simply scrumptious one
for lunch the other day, happened to mention it to my colleagues and the debate ensued – with gusto!
What constitutes a sumptious sarnie? Well, I’m a traditionalist so it’s chopped egg, dollop of mayo,
some black pepper and really fresh soft sliced bread – easy peasy! According to my colleagues,
however, I’m utterly uncultured and the following options were suggested: fried egg, tomato ketchup
and seasoning (yuck); egg and crisps in doorstep bread (a possibility); the one that caught my
attention was Jules’ Auntie May’s recipe – chopped egg, mayo, spring onions and cheese all
combined and slapped between some nice wholemeal … now that sounds like it’s worth trying!
If you think you have a better recipe for an egg sarnie, let us know and if it passes the office taste
team (we’re tough and old habits die hard, so it’ll need to be good), we’ll print it!
And then, of course, there’s the dilemma of egg on toast – just how do you avoid wasted
yummy yolk dribbles…answers on a postcard please?!
 Lynette Brimble’s hen
Muriel loves daisies!
Betty and Gladys th
We all know just how ink Sarah
Tarrant’s boarders
much our girls enjoy a need a little
henny pest control.
little gardening so
here are a few
photos to illustrate
the point!

“Sorry cant stop

… lots of
gardening to do
you know!” Shar
Hughes hen is on on
a mission.

Kristian’s hens take a well

earned shady break.

“You've forgotten to put any

flowers in this pot” says Claire
Morgan’s little hen.

Jackie Jones’ lucky hens want you to know

“ we’re not dead...we’re enjoying ourselves! ”
Jenny’s girls
love the way
fuchsia sets the
off their love
red combs. ly

Helen Simmon’s laydeez Anode and

Cathode get stuck in to the digging.
On the menu this time: some interesting news about free range eggs, liquid egg and we’re stepping up our campaign to
persuade Mr. Kipling to start baking free range.

Office of National Statistics

The Office of National Statistics regularly carries out surveys on behalf of the Government, data from the surveys is used to
analyse the changing lifestyles and shopping trends of UK consumers as well as calculate inflation rates. Since its inception in
1947, the official ‘British shopping basket’ has always used caged eggs as one of the ‘basic’ basket items, but for the 2009
‘Basket’ there has been a small but very significant change … ‘free range’ has replaced ‘cage’. Is this evidence of how you are
influencing trends by voting with your purses … you BET it is; and we love it! Thank you.
Liquid Egg
Oaklands, one of the biggest egg producers in the UK , has recently introduced pasteurised egg in liquid form; the product is
being marketed as ‘Egg in an Instant’.It comes in handy to use fresh fruit juice style 1kg cartons (equivalent to 20 medium shell
eggs) and is aimed mainly at students who want something cheap and convenient .
You’ll find it in the chiller cabinets at supermarkets and we’re very pleased to see Oaklands offer a free range version.
However, we’re a bit disappointed they leave it to us to spot the difference in their similar packaging as they do a non free
range version too, simply labelled ‘fresh egg’ – confirmed as caged! Hmm, we support your innovative idea Oaklands, but
would appreciate a little more clarity when it comes to marketing please!
The cost for 1kg of liquid caged egg is £1.40, with just 30p more for the free range version at £1.70. Cost per egg equates to 7p
for caged and 8.5p for free range! Your choice...

Mr Kipling isn't listening hard enough so we’ve decided to try a new approach and
would like you to join our positive FEATHER CAMPAIGN. We want you to cut out our
suggested letter below, stick on a special feather to represent your free range hens and
post it to Mr Kipling’s Customer Care Manager. We hope the feathers will do more than
tickle him, and persuade Mr Kipling that we want British free range eggs in our cakes!
We'd love to know how many feather letters Mr Kipling receives so please drop an
email to me at jayne.cox@bhwt.org.uk to let me know when you post yours. Thanks!

Customer Care Manager YOUR ADDRESS

Mr Kipling Cakes
Fish Dam Lane
Carlton
BARNSLEY
South Yorkshire S71 3HQ Date:

Dear Sir
A FEATHER FOR FREE RANGE!
We, the undersigned are ex-battery hens now enjoying a free range retirement thanks to the work of the Battery Hen Welfare
Trust, the UK’s only registered charity for caged hens . The BHWT have helped over 135,000 of us to enjoy a second chance
in life since they began in April 2005.
Along with our hen keepers we believe you should help our working colleagues, currently stuck in their cages, by introducing
a range of Mr Kipling products using free range eggs, preferably British ones! You claim to make exceedingly good cakes,
but we don’t think you currently use exceedingly good eggs.
We would be grateful if you would respond to our keeper, YOUR NAME………………….to inform her/him if you intend to start
sourcing free range eggs; there is a serious message in this lighthearted letter.
Thank you, we look forward to hearing from you and sincerely hope that Mr Kipling will soon join other leading food
manufacturers who are using free range eggs as ingredients.

Yours faithfully

STICK YOUR FEATHER ABOVE AND WRITE THE NAME

OF EACH OF YOUR HENS UNDERNEATH
Battery Hen Welfare Trust
Registered charity
No: 1109060
 Well in the case of eggs it is. Yet for some peculiar reason consumers in the
UK have a penchant for enormous eggs. Whether people think they’re getting
extra value for money or big egg equals big taste, I’m not sure, but extra large
eggs often have whites that are watery with fragile shells and have nothing to
recommend them other than sheer size! The supermarkets of course also play
their part in cajoling us into buying ‘big’ to make us think they’re giving us a
good deal … are we that easily led?
Medium eggs usually have the edge on quality all round and most importantly are a bit less stressful for the hen to lay
(Mums with big babies will probably be nodding right now)! Because of demand for extra large, hens are sometimes
encouraged through breeding and feeding to lay bigger eggs and this constant trend could lead to complications such as
egg peritonitis over an extended period.
When this story hit the nationals a few weeks ago, there was uproar that farmers were treating hens cruelly again by
making them lay big eggs, it offered great potential for a bit more sensationalism. Yet, d’you know the real reason the story
was made public? Because the industry finds it tricky to keep pace with demand for extra large eggs and wanted to
encourage consumers to buy mediums to help with the flow and ease pressure on the girls at the same time!
Is it that bad they ask us for our help and explain why? It flabbergasts me that journalists can get us all in a tizzy over
something so simple: there’s ever such an easy solution to this unnecessary dilemma for both hens and farmers … BUY
MEDIUM EGGS! Couldn’t really be any more straightforward could it, so please tell your family, friends, neighbours and
colleagues medium really is beautiful, especially where eggs are concerned!

A Rescued Hen says Thank You

aka by Jill Pendleton

Are you the one that rescued me?

Are you the one who came?
I want to say a thank you.
But I don’t know your name
bhwtcareline@smallholderfeed.co.uk
Thank you for coming to take me.
That’s what our national Careline has affectionately Away from that cage with no space
become known! The Smallholder team have reported a Thank you for taking me under your wing
steadily increasing flow of calls and enquiries from our and bringing me here to this place
re-homers and it’s incredibly reassuring to hear again and
We’ve been on a terrible journey.
again just how much you all care for your girls. Thank you.
Folks bury their heads in the sand
Please note the Careline cannot help with As long as the price on the egg box is low,
adoption enquiries. that’s all they understand
The new Smallholder website is now up and running too
Thank you for getting up early
and you can buy the Ex-Bats feeds direct if you wish by
and thank you so much that you care
visiting www.smallholderfeed.co.uk, although of course We didn’t know life ‘til you found us.
many of you already know that! Kind people, clean bedding, fresh air
There is also an opportunity to download another £3
But now we live in a garden,
voucher by following this link at http://
we move and it’s green and there’s sky
www.smallholderfeed.co.uk/Promotion.aspx; a voucher will
Our feathers are shabby, our wings may be weak,
be posted direct, but please remember it’s only one per but give us time and we’ll fly
person.
You gave us your care and I thank you.
You did what most people would shun
On behalf of my fellow ex-battery hens…
our lives have at last … really begun.
Adas – Part I – the amusing bit
A few months ago my colleague, Lisa, and I attended an ADAS (Agricultural Development and Advisory Service) presentation
(in association with Defra) to learn more about the options open to UK caged producers when the 2012 ban is implemented.
We’d pre-booked our attendance, arrived at the hotel venue in time for pre-meeting refreshments and were immediately
greeted by Jason Gittins, ADAS Poultry Specialist, responsible for the presentation.
Small talk ensued … until Jason politely asked our flock size; Lisa advised her flock size was 20 and mine about 60 and
informed Jason we were in fact from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. Well, I wish you could have seen the look on Jason’s
face as he took a step back in fright – ‘had we been invited?’ he enquired. ‘Did reception know we were here?’ It took a few
minutes to reassure Jason that we didn’t have balaclavas and crowbars in our handbags, persuade him our removal was
unnecessary and explain we were genuinely interested to find out more about how caged producers would fare post the
cage ban.
The room slowly filled as the meeting was due to commence … and the really sweet end to this little anecdote is that Lisa
and I knew every single caged producer that arrived! We greeted and chatted with them in our usual manner, debated the
pros and cons of investment as we sipped our tea.
Needless to say, Jason was looking a little less sweaty by the time we left!

Adas – Part II – the really serious bit

Unfortunately this part isn’t amusing in the slightest. Whilst none of us will be sad to see the end of barren cages in 2012,
the reality is our cage ban will result in countries outside the EU simply incarcerating millions more hens in the very barren
cages we are banning! Right now countries like Russia and the Ukraine are gearing up to fill the gap our ban may create
and in some cases are even buying our redundant cage units in order that they can squash more birds in them and export
cheap eggs to us where they will be hidden in processed foods. Hmm.
There is only one way we can guarantee eggs laid by these birds don’t end up on our supermarket shelves here in the UK
and that’s by supporting our British producers
– all of them. It’s also why its so important we
persuade the likes of Mr Kipling that we want
his exceedingly good cakes made with
exceedingly good eggs!
We’re in danger of repeating what has
happened to the UK pig industry when both
Government and welfare bodies imposed
strict welfare regulations on our farmers,
resulting in the near collapse of the domestic
industry and booming pork production in EU
countries using farming standards we
consider cruel and unacceptable. This well
intended welfare initiative may have improved
pig welfare in the UK, but it allowed massive
growth in substandard husbandry outside our
control. A hollow victory in my view.
The consumer is always king – if we opt for These photos of hens living in a
high welfare eggs, that’s what we’ll get. lorry were taken in Greece recently
and whilst not a legal way to farm
I know you are well aware of eggs hidden in those hens are for real
food products, but friends, family, colleagues,
neighbours may not be. We need you to help
educate those consumers currently buying products without a second thought. If you have some of our ex-bats, to borrow
corporate speak for a minute – “use their interpersonal skills”! We all know they’re the best way to win hearts and minds. In
time we can and will collectively change the way hens are farmed …let’s get as many outside free ranging as we possibly
can and let’s ensure we don’t encourage caged production in countries where we have absolutely no control over welfare.
Right I’ll step down off the soapbox for now, but I’ll be back … my passion for these delightful, brown, feathery things
extends to hens wherever they may be and whatever language they squawk in so you can be sure I’ll be shouting out for
them again as the cage ban draws nearer!

AND HELP RAISE FUNDS FOR THE BHWT

Our newsletter has a circulation of over 5,000 now and this reaches many people who keep
hens. If you are interested in seeing our rate card, please get in touch with Lisa Pope at
lisa.pope@bhwt.org.uk for further information.
Please note: not all ads will be accepted.
First two weeks…
Amanda Baines sent this lovely story.
After collecting my four little oven
readies I placed them in their new
residence where they stood
quietly and stared with great
intent - on what remains a
mystery.
They are a joy and are fast
developing their own characters.
To that end I have named them as
follows; Hoppity (came with a Amanda Baines
limp) Winnie (sounds like a horse)
Rusty (grating hinge) and Madge
(natural WI leader and a tad bossy with a bit of gung-ho to
boot) They are now confidently negotiating the ramp to
their sleeping quarters for which I am mightily thankful.
Until yesterday I was having to get into the coop myself and
educate the girls in the fine art of going up and down. No
joke in a gap that is no more than eighteen inches high and
three feet wide. (It was at this point that I became aware
that my girth had increased somewhat and that Action Must
Be Taken Forthwith!)
This morning I noticed what I thought was bruising on all my
girls. Most concerning! However when returning with my
trusty tube of Arnica and with contact lenses now in place,
the true nature of the situation was revealed. The darkening
on their little bodies was the triumphant emergence of
feathers! Hurrah!! The new feed does exactly what it says
on the bag!!
After a settling in period, I took the plunge and let them out.
Naturally Madge led the way. It was a joy to see them
soaking up the rays and scratching at the ground. The whole
episode was fraught with adventure: a low flying and rather
wheezy pigeon passed overhead which caused amazement
in some quarters and much disapproval from Madge.
Winnie tiptoed round the back of the coop and managed to
gently thread herself through the fence and get stuck. In my
attempt to retrieve her me and my girth nearly met the
same fate. Disaster! However the crisis was averted, I wised
up and blocked the escape route. Within the short time I've
had them, they're fitter, I’m fitter and I have realized that
Chickenastics could be a whole new craze . The girls and I
will be honed to perfec-
tion in the not too distant
future. I feel the front
cover of Chicken Weekly
beckoning!

Madge (left) and Hoppity.

 We love all the heartwarming stories and kind comments we get
from our supporters, here’s just a few that have come in

Hen sitting
I am trying to persuade people in the village to take some of your hens; most friends say they would love some but are con-
cerned about when they go on holiday. When we went away I had three people coming in on different mornings, in the af-
ternoons someone else called to collect eggs and check all was well; then another to put them to bed. One night this person
was a bit late and the hens had put themselves to bed in the bushes; it took her, her husband and two friends 90 minutes to
find them! Not only that, but I had to have the whole army of volun-
teers over for a 4 course meal. That was expensive enough but the wine
bill was at least twice that, never mind the effort in cooking and serving
such a large meal!
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel! We found a lady just a
mile away who looks after hens for 50p per chicken a night - Heaven! So
now when I try to persuade someone they will have no excuse. I’d like to
print the poem by Lee Laker in your Spring issue in our local village maga-
zine; I just think that it could persuade a few people who are considering
hens but can't make up their minds. Some of Hettie’s happy family
Regards, Hettie Dibbin

The Ugly Duckling?

Melanie Nelson runs a swan sanctuary in Surrey and recently took on some of our ex-bats; here’s her news:

The chickens are Weeeeee…

bringing great delight I bet you can’t
to everyone who has Ready, steady... do that
watched them since they JUMP! Mrs Swan!
arrived. We get three
eggs a day which are
greatly sought after.
Liberty is the
adventurer and can
frequently be found
sitting with a swan. I
just hope she doesn't
think she is the main
character in 'the ugly
duckling' because she may be a bit disappointed!
Many thanks. Mel

A Sweet Tale
Dear BHWT, I can’t tell you how happy and excited we are to have our gorgeous girls in the family. I have been planning to
rescue ex-bats for a few weeks, buying the coop, clearing up the garden, educating ourselves about the care of chickens,
feed, bedding and making everything just perfect before the collection date.
The day was a wonderful experience if a little emotional and as for the journey home - I have never driven so slowly, (I even
put up my new baby nephew’s sign up in my back windscreen: ‘baby on board’)!

The following day we were very surprised to have received 4 eggs! And I’m proud to say we have only had one day since
without somebody laying. I am so glad I listened to my heart and not those who advised against getting ex battery hens
because of possible health problems. I can put those
people right and tell them what a difference a week
can make.
My family’s number one priority every morning is now
the hens, it’s a race for my son and I to see who gets to
let them out. And I often catch my husband "having a
word with them" too; I can honestly say we all just love
them!
Many thanks and kind regards, Sharon Sweet + happy
Sharon's sweet girls family
Hen Therapy
This from a BHWT supporter:
“I'm going to be serious for a few lines, I was a bailiff enforcing warrants for four years and I started to lose faith in people,
society and the world in general. My wonderful wife, Jo, knew I was developing a bad depression and decided I would take some
time off and quit my job. Jo encouraged me in my gardening and I know now that the girls were also part of her devious plan. I
have a strong protective streak and Jo knew as soon as the girls arrived and I saw them, it would kick in.
The constant source of laughter and joy the girls brought as day by day we all got a little better - them and me – together with my
new job makes so much more right with the world. Thank you for your part in helping me re-join the human race (previously
expelled for being stroppy) and for giving me my six little therapists along with my truly brilliant and wonderful wife who can be
as fiercely protective and infinitely more subtle than I can ever be.”
Anon
This abridged email has been one of the most uplifting and rewarding stories I have heard - isn’t it amazing what these birds
can do for us...

Brolly
Dear Lisa
Just thought I would drop you a quick line to let you know how delighted we are with our new girls. Me and my
children were so very excited on Saturday waiting for the arrival of our five new hens.
My husband, however, was not at all happy as he had to be in the workshop doing
the finishing touches to the hen house that we had designed; being a carpenter we
had assigned him to the job. He missed both rugby finals on TV and could not drink
the bottle of speckled hen beer we had brought him while still using his power tools!!
The hen house was finished and furnished with straw and feeders just in time. They were
here and even though they looked a little "shell shocked" (ha ha) they loved their new
found freedom. As a thank you Brolly (see picture), named because her comb is over
her head like an umbrella, laid an egg within the hour.
Funny how an egg sandwich and a bottle of beer can change the mood of a grumpy
carpenter!!!!!!!!
Thank you for all the work you do for these lovely creatures Brolly
Best Wishes, Angie Townsend, Fittleworth West Sussex
 Lilly

Miss BHWT Ex-Bat 2009

Well, talk about handbags at dawn … it’s been a hard fought contest
but the Co-ordinators have finally accepted the winner of our BHWT Ex-
Bat 2009 Contest! We had attempts
at vote rigging, multi voting, extra Lilly, sporting
layers of make-up for enhanced her best new
beauty … ahem, not mentioning any daywear.
names whatsoever, but Adele’s
comment that Gloria ‘made her do
it’ didn’t hold sway with the
Committee whatsoever!
Consequently, I’m delighted to
announce that with an
overwhelming number of votes for
little Lilly, she is our BHWT Miss Ex-bat
for the year! Lilly’s loving owner is Michelle Boulton
our brilliant Cornish Co-ordinator.
With your help Little Lilly raised over Michelle said “Lilly has always been a very special and pretty little hen to me; I am
£250. THANK YOU. chuffed that many other people think so too!”

Our lovely runners up were...

Sheila Scrumpy: Scrumpy
Sheila: Living with Michelle Garner our
Living with Lesley Austin our fab Essex excellent Bristol Co-ordinator.
support co-ordinator. Lesley said “I am Michelle said: “ Scrumpy and I are
absolutely thrilled to hear that my beautiful delighted at her achievement in
Sheila has won 2nd place. I could not be more coming 3rd in the beauty contest.
proud of her! Despite her obvious disabilities she Congratulations also to Lilly on winning
is more loved than you could know!” this prestigious award – well done!

Chicken Little...House hen!

Chicken Little’s story is a particularly
charming (and funny) one, beautifully
recounted by our Essex Co-ord Jean Gill. No Knickers showing of her
If you would like to sponsor Chicken Little
lovely warm new feathers
for yourself or as a present for a friend,
please either visit our website or call Ann
Osborne on 01189 425050 (9am – 5pm
weekdays only please).
The pack costs £17.99 and includes a
certificate, the hen’s story, two greetings cards by BHWT artist, Lisa Pope, a car
sticker, key ring, Newsletter and a six month update on your hen.

And Finally
We recently took some hens from a Devon farm and one sprightly little hen was
Merry
displaying some peculiar head movements, a sort of mild tremor. As usual we kept
her back to observe her and she’s still here in my hospital waiting for a new home …
trouble is she has a rather endearing quality in that she walks round in a big circle
(left hand only) and she’s tugged the heartstrings of all of us here. She’s in with 3
others all recovering from bruising but it’s her sense of purpose in striding out that
gets the ‘awww’ every time; they’d make a lovely little flock for some caring
re-homer. Problem is I’ve made the mistake of giving her a name: Merry (as in ‘go
round’) and she seems to be so settled … it’d be a shame to move her on again …
wouldn’t it…?