About us
Picture the scene: Wembley Stadium filled with chickens. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? Now picture that number of chickens 10 times over and you’ll be looking at the number of hens rehomed to date by the British Hen Welfare Trust.
That’s 900,000 hens since 2005 who have enjoyed love, fresh air and a free-range retirement that most of their commercial counterparts could only dream of.
Founded by Jane Howorth, the underlying principles of the BHWT are, and always have been, to approach laying hen welfare with a level-headed, pragmatic style, preferring to inform rather than shock people when it comes to raising awareness.
It is this approach which saw Jane awarded an MBE for her work in 2016 and resulted in the BHWT being named JustGiving’s Charity of the Year in 2018.
But glitzy awards and titles aside, it’s the wellbeing of each and every hen we rehome that keeps us working tirelessly.
It’s why we founded our Improving Pet Hen Health programme, to ensure that every hen receives the veterinary care she deserves, and so that every hen owner feels just as supported with their feathered friends as they do with cats and dogs.
It remains our aim to see the humble laying hen gain the respect she deserves which is why we work with stakeholders such as DEFRA, veterinary institutions, farmers and schools to spread the word about how brilliant these little beings are.
We rely on our incredible network of over 1,200 volunteers and our 46 rehoming sites around the UK to continue rehoming 50,000 hens every year, and we’re on our way to our one-millionth hen.
We can’t wait to raise a toast to every single hen when we get there.
