HUNDREDS of battery hens could be rescued by a charity and given to new owners next Sunday – but only if the city's residents reserve them.
Russell Barratt, 48, will hold the fourth annual HenFest on September 8 having just 50 former battery hens for adoption that were taken from farmers who had no space for them.
"I've got 50 hens homed – 250 are waiting for new owners," said Mr Barratt, who works as an accountant during the week.
Hens will only be available at the event if people pre-order the birds via an e-mail to little hensu@gmail.com – and if no e-mail is received, the hens will not be rescued and have a much smaller chance of survival.
Mr Barratt, along with his wife Loraine, 50, holds the HenFest as a member of the charity Little Hen Rescue, which sees a group of six volunteers go to farms on a Friday or Saturday night and help rescue the hens, which are often in cages so small that they can only raise one wing.
"The people that rescue them don't break them out at night – a relationship of trust has been built up [with the farmer] and a team will go in at the weekend," said Mr Barratt.
"They can rescue up to 1,000 hens – the remainder, up to 9,000, will be offered to other rescue people or they will be sold to pet food companies or put into the abattoir.
"They will go in there with big baskets and will be shown cages where these hens are. They [the hens] are bald, they're not brought for food – they're egg-layers."
Mr Russell, who hopes that up to 300 will be reserved in time for next Sunday's HenFest, said of the earmarked birds: "They will be let out into temporary storage and the next day they are put into a trailer to HenFest."
The idea took off after he first took in some hens after moving from Shenfield to his current home in Roxwell near Chelmsford.
"For my first batch I had to drive to Lincoln, I also had to go to Cambridge and Norwich.
"[I thought] it would be good to have one in Essex."
Since the project started five years ago, Mr Barratt's HenFest has helped rehome about 2,000 hens to loving families – and it is all tightly controlled.
"People have to sign a form saying that they will treat them as pets – it's strictly controlled, they have to promise not to cull them.
"We have to ask what accommodation they all have for them.
"This is one of the reasons that it's getting more and more difficult to re-home them – I get lots of calls but people don't come back. I have 250 that are waiting for homes – they are still in battery cages."
Last year Mr Barratt said that they struggled because of the recession – but still managed to get £1,000 to Little Hen Rescue's Essex branch and Greyhoundhomer RGT in South Ockendon.
Mr Barratt spoke of his passion for rescuing the egg-laying poultry: "Hens are very sociable and they're fun to watch – you can sit there with a glass of wine and watch them interact.
"They have their own personalities.
"I had a favourite hen, Lola – it had a stroke.
"We thought we were going to lose her but one morning she started walking around, she made a full recovery."
He added: "I don't normally name my hens because they all tend to look the same."
Mr Barratt advises that people should take about two or three hens the first time they buy them and they will lay around one egg per day up until they are 18 months old, after which they will effectively have one day off a week.
The HenFest event will be held on Sunday, September 8, noon-4pm at Springwood, Stonehill Road, Roxwell, CM1 4NP. Face painting, pony rides plus alcapas and sheep being on display will provide entertainment for children.
Singing entertainment will being provided by two Elvis – Miguel Olivarie and Wesley Presley. Hens must be reserved in advance – e-mail littlehensu@gmail.com to get more information.
All potential rehomers will be vetted in advance of being accepted and photos of your coop and runs must be given.
