As an Egg Club member since 2018, Monica usually sells most of her eggs to fellow volunteers at the Friends of The South West Police Heritage Trust as well as staff at the South West Heritage Trust to raise funds for the BHWT. But since the outbreak of Covid-19, like many of our Egg Club members, she hasn’t been able to meet up face to face with her regular customers. Aside from a few new customers in the village, Monica needed to think of a new way to continue to use the eggs.
“There are only so many loaf cakes you can make to put in the freezer,” chuckles Monica. That’s when she had the idea to give the extra eggs to the local food bank. The local food bank provides vital support to people in need during these difficult times, and even during the pandemic, they accept food and money in order to continue delivering their essential services. By doing this, Monica could continue her Egg Club and do some good for the local community.
Mrs Cluck’s Gang is made up of eight well-established rehomed hens. Monica tells us that they haven’t quite got the idea of retirement yet as they regularly produce more eggs than she can use – she’s even had extra eggs over the winter! So now, any extra goes to the food bank where they are always gratefully received.
Since starting out with a small flock of Blue Lace Wyandotte chickens who she got from a friend as a housewarming gift, Monica rehomed her first ex-commercial laying hens from the BHWT in 2009 and hasn’t looked back since. Their inquisitive nature sees them exploring the garden and getting up to a bit of mischief, like the time a sheep was spotted walking backwards in the field. Puzzled, Monica went to investigate and discovered that one bold hen was marching towards the bewildered sheep, pecking at its knees as she tried to make sense of this woolly four-legged animal!
Like hens all over the country, Mrs Cluck’s Gang are restricted to the barn while Avian Influenza is still an issue. They are a little bored and eager to escape their confines but fortunately, they’re still more than happy to keep on laying to help hens through Egg Club, to supply fresh eggs to the food bank and to keep Monica’s freezer stocked with loaf cakes!
If you’d like to find out more about our exclusive Egg Club, take a look here. There are many things to get involved with, including our exclusive Facebook group for Egg Club members only. Here you can chat with fellow Egg Clubbers and get involved with polls, competitions and much more!
