Hen helpline

Supporting your hens, saving more lives

Why is our Hen Helpline needed?

Our Hen Helpline is a lifeline for hen keepers across the UK (and beyond), whether they have rehomed our hens our not, providing expert advice and support when your hens need it most. Whether you’re worried about a health issue or simply need guidance on how to care for your feathered friends for example, when merging flocks or handling bullying, we’re here to help.

Now, we’re evolving to make this service more sustainable so we can continue to support you.

How we're evolving

Running the Hen Helpline comes with significant costs—over £2,000 per month. To ensure we can provide this invaluable service for hens, we are introducing a small minimum donation of £5 per enquiry to subsidise 50% of our costs.

This small donation makes a huge difference. A £5 contribution will help us to run and develop this service and offer improving support for hens. Please note, we offer lots of free support online which you can access below.

Click one of the buttons below to complete our online form

If you cannot donate online or fill out the form, please call our friendly team at Hen Central on 01884 860084, who will happily take payment over the phone and help with your hen.

Access hen health support online

Our website has a wealth of free hen health information for keepers to access. From common issues like red mite and bumble foot to behavioural advice covering merging and bullying, please see our Hen Health pages for more support. Please note, we’re dedicated to rehoming ex-commercial hens from farms, so sadly, we can’t help with existing flocks or cockerels.

Additional support: Cockerel rehoming, Rehoming your flock

We were lucky enough to collect two hens from Oakhill and we were concerned because one was laying paper thin and corrugated eggs. We thought this looked like a calcium deficiency but we weren't sure. Alison provided us with a very comprehensive response suggesting how we could best rectify this, and put our minds at rest that our hen wasn't suffering from disease. We are happy to report our girls are well and happy, have put on weight, and are enjoying their free-range retirement. We are very grateful for the fantastic, informative advice Alison provided.

Ben Watson

I was given time to explain the situation and at no point was I rushed or did I feel like I was being judged. I felt supported and given invaluable advice.

Yvonne Whittaker

I really appreciated being able to talk to the helpline. Alison was knowledgeable and friendly, and our chat helped to determine a plan of action.

Neil Garside

Advice was helpful, reassuring and the problem now appears to have been resolved. I was thinking I might need to buy a bigger run and coop and had been looking into options which were all very expensive, so advice saved me an unnecessary expense.

Catriona Shepherd

The person I spoke to went out of her way to be helpful, was full of sensible suggestions and really paid attention to my queries. She also gave the impression that she had as much time as I needed to talk through the options: not to mention a very warm sense of humour!

Heather Elworthy

The advice received at any time from BHWT is excellent and has been a tremendous help in trying to do the best for our rescue hens. Alison, on this occasion, was so thorough and gave us very clear advice, no one-liners. it was so kind of her to devote the time and effort

Michael Bult

What we deal with

Our Hen Helpline team can support you with hen health and behavioural issues.

They are unable to deal with chick hatching, cockerel and small flock rehoming, housing advice or feeding queries.

However, there is additional support on our website which we encourage you to read.

Free access for new adopters and volunteers

Anyone who has rehomed hens from us within the past four weeks can access the Hen Helpline free of charge. This ensures you have the support you need during the initial period of settling in and caring for your new flock.

If this applies to you, please click the button below which will take you to our online form.

Our credentials

Our Hen Helpline team includes three Registered Animal Medicines Advisors and a vet nurse who between them have years of experience and knowledge. When surveyed, previous Hen Helpline users rated the service 8.4 out of 10, so we know the advice we give is supportive and helpful.

However, please note we are not vets and are legally unable to diagnose and prescribe. If we are unable to assist with a particular health issue, we may recommend you visit your local vet.

How you’re helping more hens

The change to our Hen Helpline is one of many ways we’re evolving as a charity, allowing us to rehome hens more efficiently and at an even faster pace. Every time you use the service, you’re not just benefiting your hens—you’re also helping us grow and reach our goal of rehoming the next million hens faster.

Thank you for your support