Friday 5 June 2009

If the hens only knew...................................

10,000 battery hens are soon to be rescued and re-homed.
The fabulous Little Hen Rescue in Norwich UK have negotiated handing them
over from a battery farm that is soon closing down.
Battery hens live in appalling conditions, cramped cages, unable to move properly, sometimes unable to stand, with wire flooring, never seeing daylight or smelling fresh air. Many pluck their feathers out from boredom, frustration, pain, or through fighting.
It is not surprising that when these beautiful creatures
are rescued they can be in a terrible state,
having twisted joints, or lameness,
or having had their beaks cut down, or suffering from malnutrition.

So along with the rescue comes a host of health and medical problems. One problem that can easily be helped by anyone prepared to give a little time and effort is to make 'hen jackets' - yes, that's right 'hen jackets'. These simple tabard style 'jackets' will help keep the bald hens warm, and help them climatise while settling in to their new found freedom. it can be a bit of a shock to their system after being cooped up for so long. I have made an assortment of hen jackets to donate to Little Hen Rescue.
I'll be sending them off to the rescue this weekend (there are 17 jackets in all).
This looks like a scene from 'Washing Day at the Hen House'

These are a few jackets close up. It appealed to my sense of humour to make one with a hen on it :) yeah, corny I know!










Also the 'high visibility' ones made me smile.

I used a variety of fabrics, basically anything that was going spare. The hens need fleece for warmth, but I also used brushed cotton, and jersey. I made a template from the one provided on Little Hen Rescue site. Attaching Velcro for fastening. it occurred to me after I'd finished them (yeah, yeah, hindsight is a wonderful thing!) that maybe the edges of the fabric did not need overlocking, as the jackets will be discard once the hens have gotten used to their new homes and their feathers have, hopefully, grown back. So there may have been an even quicker way to make them, not sure................................. added note' I have been informed that they ask the jackets to be returned, so that they may be reused, so maybe my overlocking was needed after all'
I'm glad to have helped in my small way. If anyone wishes to help Little Hen Rescue, by making hen jackets, or donations, or indeed, giving a home to rescued hens, you can contact them, or check out their web page.

8 comments:

pey said...

Great job !

Julie Webb Photography said...

Nice one! I love the one with the hen on it too! :)

Annette Tait said...

Kim this is superb!!

I think little hen encourages new owners to send the used jackets back - so that more rescued hens can benefit from them :)

I love the chicken one!

mvegan said...

So wonderful, thank you for doing this for the chickies, they really need us! ;0) Love the chicken one too!

Mishkat said...

Kim, thanks so much for doing this! I feel really bad for these hens - animal production makes me very sad.

Your jackets are great though and I'm impressed that you made so many!

Unknown said...

thanks for your comments. Hopefully many more people will make jackets, I know I certainly will.

Linda said...

Wow Fabulous jackets, go girl those poor little mites, hope they soon all get new homes. Lindax

Maria said...

ah i bet the sweet little hens looked so cute in their jackets!this post really warmed my heart:) xxx