Dave and his flock of rescued hens

Years of birth - Various!

Year arrived at Mane Chance - 2016 onwards

Breed - Various - ex-colony hens

Our flock of chickens started with a totally unplanned rescue.  A fluffy bundle was seen by Abi, our general manager on her way home, struggling across two carriageways of the Hogs Back A-Road.  Each time a car drove over him, he huddled down until there was a gap and then moved a little further towards the grass verge.  Miraculously, he avoided all of the wheels of the vehicles and arrived exhausted at the other side, where Abi picked him up, put him on her lap and drove home - but he had other ideas and during the journey climbed up on her shoulder (where he could see a little better!) and chirped all the way home. 

This little bundle turned out to be a cockerel, unwanted and thrown out.  But ‘Dave’ has grown into the most handsome bird and has defied all the odds of survival and now has his own flock to protect – and boy, does he protect them loudly – crowing at all times of the day!

The rescue of Dave gave us the opportunity to fulfil a long ambition to rescue and re-home ex-battery ad ex-colony chickens at Mane Chance.  We work with the British Hen Welfare Trust and take on hens when we have space.  We usually have about twelve hens at any one time and they give us a wonderful daily supply of eggs too.  They often arrive featherless, anxious and without any concept of what sun and grass is, but within a few weeks they put on weight, grow wonderful plumage and strut happily around their new home.

Our chickens love being handled too and they play a really important role in our community work – our visitors not only, feed and clean the hens and collect the eggs, but also they take a few moments to have a cuddle – and our birds love it!  They even come on outings to a local care home for a little fuss too……