Delia: I received a telephone call which began with “I’ve got something in my garden, and my vet gave me your number” . . . this alerted me to the fact that something small and needy could be about to loom over the horizon. It became apparent that we were talking about an ex-battery hen, Delia!".

On a bright blue day in Guildford, six ex-bats tentatively sloped out of their travelling boxes and tottered into unfamiliar daylight. Five of them hesitated, somewhat  bemused by the experience, whilst the sixth immediately assumed poll position and thus she was named. Boadicea!

Busy Bess: This  little hen arrived on a stunningly hot July day in 2009. Initially she was as timid as the rest of her colleagues when first introduced to The Great  Outdoors. Over a period of time though, Bess grew into a more forceful  character gradually blossoming to such an extent that she is now known as Busy Bess.

Flopsy: Flopsy is what is called a 'special' hen. "When I came out of my cage I wasn't very good at balancing, it was two steps forward and a flap to the side! (hence my name)my wings however are useful stabilisers and I soon got the hang of it. My favourite place is under the bush in the garden and I even lay the occasional egg there."

Jasmin: Once upon a time there was a little white hen called Jasmine. She lived in a dusty old barn with lots of  brown hens in small cages. Jasmine wished she could run and sun-bathe and chase butterflies as she knew other hens did. Most of all she wished she was brown like the others because she didn’t like her white feathers!