October rehoming round-up: Making in-roads for hen rehomings with new free range farms

Demand for rehoming hens is still high and we have lots of hens ready to find their new homes in November.

October’s hen rehomings were predominantly free range, and included a new small commercial farm in the heart of Bath. The farmer was so pleased that we were able to take his beautiful well feathered birds that would otherwise have gone to market.

We are always keen to encourage small flock free range farmers who often struggle to find anywhere to rehome their hens when they reach end of lay.

This particular farmer has been operating a small independent farm for 12 years with three sheds of Hy-line hybrids within a secure fenced field. The hens shared the space with a flock of sheep in a spectacular location planted with mature trees and one of the best views you can imagine.

The sheds, which were home-made, large and roomy, giving the hens lots of space to roost at night and deep straw for laying. This is exactly the kind of system we champion giving hens the chance to live a good quality free range lifestyle.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions the farmer did not know what he was going to do with his flock until he found us, and we jumped at the chance to help him! We hope that this is the start of a long and beneficial relationship to all three parties concerned: the farmer, BHWT and of course the hens!

The Cheshire team hit a milestone on Saturday 24^th, 2020, with the rehoming of their 10,000^th hen on a particularly wet and windy rehoming day. Despite the weather, spirits were high and 540 hens left the Nantwich collection point to join their new families.

And finally, last month’s appeal for poorly carers reaped phenomenal results and we are working our way through your kind offers to help as quickly as we can, so please do bear with us.