NEARLY all people who have rehomed ex-commercial hens would recommend the hobby to their friends and family.

In a recent survey of over 1,000 of its 60,000 supporters, the British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT) discovered that people’s love of ex-battery hens shows no sign of waning.

A total of 99.2 per cent of people would recommend to hobby and 52 per cent admitted they had rehomed hens more than once.

The rehomed hens are 18 months old and have been laying eggs to be sold in supermarkets or put into processed foods for us to buy.

Most of them will have lived in cages, meaning they’ve not experienced life outside or had the chance to become much-loved family pets.

Chickens are relatively inexpensive to keep once their initial needs are catered for, with owners telling the charity they spend between £10 and £25 per month on their hens.

The only ongoing costs associated with hen keeping are a nutritional chicken feed and bedding.

Anyone interested in rehoming hens, should register online at bhwt.org.uk and call Hen Central on 01884 860084 to complete registration and make a booking. The website also has upcoming hen collection dates.