Some Sad News

With a few tears in my eyes the Ex Batt Girls have some sad news to tell you.

Unfortunately last night one of the green chickens nicknamed Little Bear died during the night.



Little bear was nicknamed this because she had a bright red bare bum and as one of the blue chickens was already named Derriaire we called her bear because she was so bare. This soon became little bear as she was one of the smallest chicken in the green group.

Even tho she was only with us for such a short time her last month was a happy one and she like the others has made such a difference around here.



When Little Bear was let out with the other to roam free into the garden, she loved to go and stand under the raspberry bushes in the shade. Where she would lay here out the way from the others squabbles usually with a rotten potatoe which she would find in the garden, it was one of her favourite foods. Once she was out she never wanted to go back into her house always hiding under the raspberry bushes and always the last to go back inside.

She was buried today in the garden close to her favourite spot with some rotten potatoes one of her favourite food.

She will be greatly missed by all.

The Third Week of Freedom

This is the start of the third week of freedom from the battery cage. Last week for two of them there was three vists to the vet because the sneeze that had come with them got worse, Luckily it did not affect any of the others. Three doses of Baytril seems to have solved the problem. Our local vet Pip Pocock is really good with all animals and spends time getting to know them. It only cost us around £12 so we where pleased.
They are not entirely freeranging at the moment but they come out in groups through the afternoon and evening. Gradually they are aquiring names but recognising them by any unique feature one may have is challenging as they change each day. They are growing feathers and the little black quills are starting to fill in the bald patches.
Their confidence is growing they now no longer want to stay on the plot of ground they are put and have developed the technique of all going in different directions to ensure that they can't be rounded up easily. Now no worm is safe and dannylion leaves are a favourite food.
We are pleased that we did not get any chicken with serious problems. One Kate, did show some intial signs of blindness but has recovered. We are not sure whether this was caused by bullying or she was just unable to adapt to the strong sunlight. Her eyes changed colour and when very red and appeared opaque but then they just got better. From the outset their legs appeared to be strong even on the first day perching on top of the feeder was no problem.
We are continuing to feed as recommended the special Ex -Batt crumbs but they seem to be on a see-food diet already. Small amounts of homemade wholemeal bread are favourite especially, Derriaire, who will have your hand off if she thinks your not breaking it up fast enough. You must be careful feeding bread; wholemeal is not too different to the 'crumbs' they are used to but we keep an eye on their cropp to ensure there is no hardness, as can happen with white bread. They are also getting vegtable mash mix with their crumb as wet mash and they are already eating pellets adlib.
Despite the prolific growing of feathers egg production is very good and we have had more than 6 dozen eggs in the last two weeks. The shells are getting thicker and the yokes deeper yellow.
It is really nice to be able to make cakes and do other cooking without thought of how many eggs are in the cupboard. I want to start making homemade pasta; the Jamie Oliver recipe I use needs 6 eggs. That is very expensive pasta if you have to buy them at organic supermarket prices. Ours of course are not quite 'organic' yet but at least we know what the chicken have been fed and they are eggs from 'happy chooks'!

Meet The Girls

Now the ex batts have settled into their new home it is time for their house warming and for you to meet the girls. As mention in the last posting there are two groups of ex batts, the blues and the greens.

First off we will meet the greens as they have taken their time to settle in and have yet to show off their personality's. As a result we have only named one of girls in this group.



Endeavour is the boss of the greens, she is the bravest of the group and takes no messing from the other girls.

The second group of girls are the blues, this bunch are so full of personality that they are positively bursting.

Tesco is the boss of the blues. she was orignally called Tesco because she started off being a little bit of a bully to the other chickens. However, now she has settled into things, she rules them all fairly. Not only is she the biggest chicken of all the groups, this also extends to her personality as she is very easily frightened.

Kate was the second chicken out of the chicken house when she first arrived. She is a very shy and quiet girl. However, she is a bit of a poser and loves to have her photo taken. Hence we named her Kate, after Kate Moss.


Hatty is one chicken who is not shy, even about her lack of feathers, she is so full of personality and is so friendly. She is definately a people chicken. She was called 'Hatty' because she was just so very tatty when she arrived, that we nicknamed her 'Tatty Hatty'.

Derrière is one girl who really is on a 'see food' diet. She thinks anything and everything you hold is potentially food and is for her. This one goes crazy for is bread and if she thinks you are not giving it to her fast enough, she will take it from you and your hand long with it. She was named because of her lack of feathers on her Derrière, (behind)

Brownie, who is on the right, is a fully feathered, brown, shy little chicken, who's personality has recently changed, not necessarily for the better. However, that will be saved for a later post.

The Ex-Batts Arrival at there New Home

Our 10 ex-batts were collected from the pick up location in Burseldon, near Southampton after they where rescued from the battery farm by The Battery Hen Welfare Trust.

We were told by the rescuers of our 10 new friend's that it was one of the worst farms they had seen, where some of the birds were sick and blind.

The chicks were transported back to their new home in the back of a trailer. The hens enjoyed their journey, in their boxes packed with straw, keeping them warm but also more importantly well ventilated. By the time the girls' got to their final destination they were in a deep sleep. When we first saw them lying there, for a minute we had feared the worse, but there was nothing to worry about.

As soon as we arrived, we unloaded the boxes containing the precious cargo of little threadbare hens and carried them to their new homes down by the sunflower patch. Here we unpacked them from their boxes one by one. As we did so we put on their coloured rings so we could identify which house they belong to. There are two separate houses in which five hens live. Each house is described in these diaries by the colours of the ring which the hens wear.

The two houses are the Blue or Green house. We also sprayed them with a nibble deterrent to deter the girls from pecking and plucking each other. They actually seemed to like the taste but their nibbling and pecking of each other didn't seem so vicious. Following this we left them to get used to their new surroundings.

We left the side door open which we covered with the chicken-wire box lid to stop them getting out and opened the door to their enclosure, so they could see and get used to their new domain.

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