This time the hens were free rangers but I can honestly say I was saddened by the state some of them were in. Bald backs and red raw skin with just one or 2 tail feathers sticking out of bald skin.
These were the minority though, the majority were almost full feathered plump white hens with lovely red combs.
The hens were very strange as in when they panicked they'd all pile in the corner in a heap and smother whoever was at the bottom of the pile....17 were lost on this way so we had to keep going in and clearing them out of the corners and sometimes the piles were 6 or 7 hens deep. We had to just keep moving them on.
These hens were laying like crazy all day, we had dozens and dozens of eggs from them so many people got a free tray of eggs with their new hens!
We went to fetch 2 back for ourselves but came back with 4 as after we'd chosen our 2, another caught my eye and then I was handed one with a crooked neck and a bald back and I just had to bring her home, having seen the improvement Lizzy has made with us.
We tried Lizzy and "Rita" together last night but Lizzy started bullying her and I couldn't risk it with a frail hen like Rita, so Lizzy was in the dog crate with Newton while Rita slept on the settee with me.
Today we have tried Lizzy out in the pen and she seems ok in the company of the 3 white hens so will leave her there for the time being unless she looks ill then she can come back in (but she eats and drinks ok so should be alright, I was just mothering her too much) Little Rita needs TLC to gain strength and grow a coverage of feathers.
Jo @ Little Hen rescue still has lots of the white hens left for new homes so if you can home a few, please see her website by clicking the title of this blog entry. They are for pet homes only and Jo asks a minimum donation of £1.50 per bird. The picture below is of a few of the hens awaiting homes.
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