Sunday, September 28, 2008
Buffy the well dressed chicken
Eggxellent chicken couture
A feather-less battery hen has been given an extra layer to help it get through the cold winter days.
A volunteer has knitted her a striped woolly jumper and now she is the star attraction at the rescue centre in Brent Knoll in Somerset.
(link via itn.co.uk) Click on the link to watch a video showing the hen wearing her knitted jumper (sweater). Very cute!
And I love the voice over at the end: "Some say it's an egg-celent outfit and others say, it's just too eggs-treme and it will never catch on."
Read another article (via Metro) about the lucky hen: Buffy the chicken faces the bald truth
Read more about the RSPCA Brent Knoll animal centre where Buffy, the featherless hen and other ex-battery hens are being cared for and re-homed.
I've been thinking about adopting ex-battery hens - they are easy to keep in the back garden (yard) apparently. I like the idea of giving these poor hens a new home and a stress free life (and of course being able to collect fresh eggs!). I've found lots of information via The Battery Hen Welfare Trust website but I haven't made up my mind yet. Do you keep chickens? Have you adopted ex-battery hens? What advice would you share?
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I think it would be a great idea to own an ex-battery hen (however unfortunately I can't as I don't have a private garden). If you get chickens, you should keep them safe from foxes by maybe keeping their hut on concrete, and not letting them out unattended (a fox recently ate a couple of a friend's chickens when she popped inside to get a cup of tea when they were out in the garden). (Guillaume's wife)
ReplyDeleteHello and welcome!
ReplyDeleteI know foxes pose a serious threat so the chickens have to be put in their coops every night without fail but I didn't realize the foxes could strike at any time so that even a moment left unattended could be a risk for the chickens. That's something to consider.
Thank you for the comment and the advice.
We rescued battery hens. Sad pathetic creatures when they arrived, huddled in our stone shed with white feet and no idea of how to forage. They watched in terror as our Bantams rushed out each morning, herded out by Mr Cockaloo. It took more than a week for them to venture out, several weeks for them to grow back their feathers, but then - go girls go!
ReplyDeleteFoxes are around all the time. They will steal one at a time if they are taking them back to cubs, but other times, if they have time undisturbed, they will murder them all. Absolute carnage and heartbreak.
Hi Deirdre, Thanks for sharing your experience.
ReplyDeleteI really didn't realize that foxes are around during the day too - I thought they were only a threat during the night. It certainly means that keeping chickens is even more of a responsibility than I had first thought. It must be a challenge to keep an eye on the chickens all the time.
Hello from Queensland,isn't modern technology wonderful!
ReplyDeletebattery hens are well worth saving, the change in them after a few weeks is amazing.
I would probably check with the local vet or animal welfare agency on the fox problem in your area,cheeky daylight behavior might only be to feed cubs at a certain time of the year or if fox wild food supply is desperate .
Hello in Queensland! Welcome to my blog.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea - to ask a local vet or animal welfare agency to find out about the fox problem in our area. I've never seen a fox in our town during the day (or night) but that doesn't mean they aren't around and a vet could probably tell me if they are a problem during the day.
Thanks for the advice!