Re-Homing Our Hens with The British Hen Welfare Trust
Since 2017, our organic laying hens have been re-homed by the British Hen Welfare Trust where they are happily retired to homes across the country. Earlier this year, our founder Carole Bamford discussed the importance of this partnership for the British Hen Welfare Trust's quarterly magazine, Chicken & Egg. You can read the whole piece below, and find more from the magazine here.
Where do hens fit into life at Daylesford?
We now have several different breeds of hens at Daylesford, some rare, including Lohmann Browns, Hyline Browns, Amber Stars and Cotswold Legbars. All are free to explore our agroforestry fields, with plenty of wild grasses, herbs, fallen fruit, worms, insects and clover to forage and peck away at. Not only do our hens reward us with rich, golden-yolked eggs, that we sell in our farmshops, but they also nourish the soil they roam on with their organic matter. This helps to keep the farm’s ecosystem diverse and thriving, which I am incredibly grateful for.
What sort of home do you believe makes for a happy hen?
Unlike some of the larger animals we have at the farm, hens have simple needs. If they have access to plenty of daylight, space to roam, grubs to forage for and are free of stress, hens will live and lay quite happily.
Do you have a favourite breed of hen, why is that?
Legbars are a traditional British breed that I particularly love. They’re famous for their beautiful pastel-blue eggshells, which range from a creamy, very pale colour to a delicate green. Legbar hens are a minority breed in the UK, so I’m proud to be supporting their survival. They are a little shyer than some of our other breeds such as the Amber Stars. These girls have creamy white features, striking red combs and seem much nosier.
How do you apply the core beliefs of Daylesford to your hen's lives?
We believe in working with nature, rather than against it, so our farmers do all they can to support our hens’ instinctive behaviours. This means that they enjoy a varied, organic and forage-based diet. Our hens are truly free-range animals, able to wander out of their arks and into the field to enjoy the sunshine and search for insects and seeds in the grass. When they’ve devoured all the vegetation, we rotate the chicken houses into the neighbouring field to give them fresh ground to explore. When I visit our hens at Daylesford, I’m always struck by how curious and confident they are - indicators that they’re happily in tune with their natural instincts.
When the hens have stopped laying what happens to them?
Our hens can stay with us for up to two seasons before their laying reduces below commercial needs and they are taken in by the British Hen Welfare Trust. They work to rehome hens with other farmers and families looking to adopt slower laying hens for their garden. We are lucky to have been working with the charity since 2017, over which period they have rehomed over 13,500 Daylesford Organic hens.
Do you have hens at home? Do they have names?
Yes, I have fourteen at the moment. Feeding them every morning and listening to their grateful clucking is one of the highlights of my day. If I leave the door open, they’ll sometimes follow me into the kitchen. Some do have names – Treacle is one of my favourites.
