The scramble for homegrown eggs

The Henkeepers’ Association estimates that the number of households keeping hens in the UK has more than doubled in the past decade. B&Q also reports a staggering 360 per cent rise in the number of chicken coops sold in 2010 compared to the previous year.

But for those who weren’t brought up on a farm, where do you start? Step in Jane McAndrews, otherwise known as Mrs Cluck Cluck. From her home in the rolling countryside outside Aberford, near Leeds, she runs “hen parties” to teach people basic poultry-keeping. She also sells chickens and hen houses.

Her yard is home to a variety of hens, from Copper Blacks, speckled white Light Sussex and a Bantam. They all have names, and her favourite is Chicken Pie, a rather scrawny-looking red hen with a great personality. There are also three peacocks, a rescued pigeon called Mary, and Dotty the Doberman dog, who plods around in a muzzle “to stop her from eating the chicken feed, not because she bites”. In the fields beyond, there are four horses.

Mrs McAndrews set up her business a year ago after becoming alarmed at the conditions some amateurs are keeping their chickens in.

“I’m sticking up for chickens,” she says. “I’ve designed my own hen house that looks pretty in the garden and I don’t sell it with a run, so it has got to be free range.”

She is critical of some of the more flimsy hen houses on the market which are cramped and difficult to clean out. What started as a hobby has now grown into a fully-fledged business after she was given four hens as a birthday present 16 years ago.

“If you know what you’re doing, keeping hens is easy,” she says. “They’re useful and it’s very therapeutic watching and listening to chickens. They are curious so they need lots of things to entertain them and they’re social.”

The chickens she sells are hybrids produced from breeds such as Light Sussex, Rhode Island Red and Marans.

“I don’t sell chicks because the mortality rate is too high. I buy from the hatcheries and grow them on. They’ve had all their vaccinations and are salmonella tested. If people want easy chickens that lay lots of eggs, the hybrids are the ones.”

She says keeping chickens is a brilliant project for kids and offers a starter package for beginners. To deliver four hens, a hen house, the feeders, grit, bedding and food, Mrs Cluck Cluck charges £375. But this also includes a lesson on how to look after them and advice on where best to site the hen house in the garden. She even offers boarding while the owner is away. “I run ‘chicken camp’ so people who buy their hens from me can bring them back when they go on holiday.”

With food prices soaring and spring advancing, the number of enquiries is rising.

“It costs about £1.75 per week to keep a hen. So if they’ve laid you an egg a day and you have three hens you’re quids in really,” adds Mrs McAndrews.

Adopting a former battery hen is another way to ensure a cheap supply of fresh eggs.

The British Hen Welfare Trust is a small, national charity that saves battery hens from slaughter. It recently set up a Yorkshire coordinator to find homes for commercial laying hens and has saved 1,600 such hens in the region since July. Jane Howorth, Founder of the British Hen Welfare Trust says they are on target to have re-homed 250,000 across the country by next month and there is a growing waiting list for the hens. “We can’t just go and collect the hens when we want to. We have to work to slaughter dates,” she explains. “The birds when they come out are normally very healthy. There’s no point in the farmer keeping unhealthy stock. They have had the full gamut of vaccinations so by and large they are a very safe animal to adopt, but occasionally there are one or two who come out with perhaps a bit of bruising. Out of 300 you might get two or three who are not fit for re-homing.”

She says former battery hens make great pets. “They’re great fun. They’re endearing and cheeky. They’ll supply you with a nice tasty fresh breakfast at the end of the garden. It brings you right back down to ground level. They can be quite affectionate.”

HEN HOUSE FACTS

Hybrid chickens lay 280 to 300 eggs a year. Some hens will lay an egg a day, with time off during the winter. Hens like to roost off the ground. The hen house has to be the right size for your brood.

As well as specially formulated pellets, hens eat mixed corn, porridge, rice and even Marmite! For more information visit www.bhwt.org.uk, or call 01769 580310. Mrs Cluck Cluck is running a chicken keeping workshop at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Grow Your Own event at Harlow Carr, Harrogate from March 26-27. For details visit www.mrscluckcluck.co.uk