The Smallest Smallholding presents:
******THE FIRST RESIDENT EGG PRODUCTION TEAM ******
Yoko
Yoko Arrived 16.08.09 Departed 17.04.2009
Head honcho. Took no prisoners. Accepted no lies. Yoko was a MACHINE!
Big, bad, bossy and damned loud!
Yoko was the tallest but skinniest and baldest of the hens when they first arrived. She soon sprouted a great many feathers, and eventually sported the fluffiest bum this side of the Watford Gap.
Yoko laid extremely rotund, speckled brown eggs. She loved pasta, always got the best spot on the perch and was always
first in line for her favourite meal - a big juicy worm. She was often found shouting at the floor, or nothing in particular.
Due to sterile EYP she became a retired layer!
A vivacious, wonderfully loud and bright girl that made her mark on us.
Maureen
Maureen Arrived 16.12.06 Departed 06.04.09
Maureen was second in command, and although she was subject to a peck or two, she kept the others in line with a more matronly approach. She was the guardian of the group, and although she had to tell the other two off occasionally, she was ultimately very motherly and gentle.
Maureen sported some very elegant tail feathers and was often found performing her ballet exercises. She loved pasta, as well as being rather partial to a few cubes of cheddar cheese. She used to eat plastic bags, but got over that phase eventually!
A beautiful, motherly hen that I’ll always remember.
Cynthia
Cynthia Arrived 16.12.06, Departed 31.03.08
Fast, Ninja, Wiggle-bum and she learnt fast from Yoko on what it is to be loud and proud. She would often reply to Yoko’s loud calls, sometimes I think trying to be louder and more tuneful! Cynthia had a small head, but it didn’t fool anyone into thinking she had a tiny brain. She went from a patchy baldy to a beautiful, glossy-feathered little brown hen.
Cynthia loved to run around, and was the fastest worm and fly catcher in the east. Very cunning and a little bit of a daredevil, she was often found jumping up on ‘things’. She always loved jumping and scratching around, and would often tip up all the food bowls so she could scratch her food rather than eat it like all the other girls. She loved shiney things, especially eyes, but due to her super-fast dartability factor, not even Rocky Balboa could catch up with this hen.
Cynthia loved pasta and worms, but her favourite snacks were leatherjackets and cockchafer grubs.
A lovely hen who will never be forgotten, such a funny little character.
Pattie
Pattie arrived 16.12.06 Departed, 07.08.2008
Pattie was the 4th and final in command. Gentle, pretty, sweet and unassuming, Pattie was the sweetheart of the group.
She was an avid dustbather, and was utterly infatuated with running water. Once painfully shy, she became very vocal with anything that disgruntled her. She loved to sunbathe and show off her pretty ankles. Pattie was the guardian of the compost heap, and was always the first to scale the precipice in order to get those tasty worms.
Pattie loved strawberries, cheese, worms, pasta and grubs. She laid incredibly long and pointy eggs. Like Maureen, Pattie used to have a taste for plastic bags, but she too got over that phase. Not very a la mode!
A beautiful, chatty girl who will also never ever be forgotten.
August 18th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
i want to re-home 3 hens, is it free and would you deliver them to Leeds. As im unemployed. love to help, thank you
August 30th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Hi, we are hoping to relocate asap and in the area where we are hoping to live we will have room for a few hens,we have always wanted hens and said we would rescue some as we have with our dogs(rescue dogs) How many would you recc us having on a plot approx 24ft x14ft,what will they need on the floor,what do they eat,will they still be egg laying,would the dogs bother them or stop them laying. We do want to rescue some when we are able to give a quality of life
Look forward to haering from you, how much are they or is it a donation,
Reg
Mick
October 4th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
G’day
I am an Ozzie living in the Cayman Islands from the past few years, I just bought the book that follows the movie Food, Inc, still to finish it but it has had me searching a few sites and your came up. Very nice and I am envious.
I use to get the ex-battery hens in Perth, Western Australia and keep them in my garden. It would take several weeks for their feather to come good and their claws to open up from the permanent cage clutch they had lived with for a year, when first released they use to look up at the sky in amazement heads cocked to one side.
They would lay for me for several years until their natural deaths, having also cleaned my garden of woodlice and other stuff plus be avid eaters of our left-overs and scraps. We had two dogs and two cats ad a rabbit and they all got on in the back garden of a suburban house.
Thanks for your site and insights
Martin
November 18th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Hi Lucy, I live in Northern Ireland (Co. Tyrone) and have just moved to a new house out in the country. I would like to hold 5 hens and was thinking about taking rescued hens but can’t seem to find where I can get any here in Northern Ireland. Would you know of an address? Your website is great and very informative for likes of me who are new to this!!
Regards,
Nicole Curran
November 30th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Hello, I would love to adopt some hens. I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of months and now I can’t wait. I live in Welwyn, Herts. Can you give me some information on how to adopt etc? I’ve come across a few sites and I love the profiles you’ve given some of the hens!
Thank you.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Hi,
We have never kept chickens before but would love to, we have no other pets and a large garden going to waste. Please can you give me some info on what we would need, how many chickens is a good staring number and where you are.
Many thanks
Cheryl
February 18th, 2010 at 2:16 am
i have 6 chickens and one cockeral 2 of the hens are ex battery hens and im looking for 4 more hens please becoz i have a very big field with only 7 hens in.