Julie and Andrew Snell

Dan Hardwick, 32, The Poultry Pages

I was 14yrs old and was in need of some pocket money to buy things I wanted, I had a paper round but this didn't suit me... so off i went looking for a weekend job, I came across a farm that a school friend worked at on a weekend again for pocket money and asked my friend to get me a job. Then it all started from there really!

I was 14yrs old and was working at a battery hen farming where we collected and packed eggs from chickens and on this farm there was approx 20,000+ hens at anyone time kept in cages. I worked there for a few years and turned 16yrs old and then the farmer asked, 'do you want to run the farm on a weekend?'. Through the experience I had gained I jumped at the chance and was responsible for running the farm on a weekend and looking after all these hens, then came the hen keeping, I lived with my mum and asked if I could keep a few in the back garden in which she agreed to which soon turned into more and more and before I knew it I was buying in day old chicks and rearing to point of lay and selling them all of course sourced from the farm I worked at. Unfortunately this didn't last long as the farmer contracted an illness and sadly passed away and then the farm folded as a result.

Now being 32 yrs old I got back into hens approx 4 yrs ago and again just keep a few in our garden now for pets and eggs and still love it to this day. Sadly family life and worries do get in the way. I now also own, run and administrate one of the largest poultry groups and communities on Facebook called (The Poultry Pages) and help other people with their day to day worries and concerns about hen keeping and provide a community where people can come together to discuss ALL things poultry. Again this was set up on the back of keeping poultry and working with poultry and feel very humbled to be in this position to be able to provide a platform for over 20,000 people worldwide and share my knowledge with others on a daily basis :-)

Wilfred Wales

W. Robinson

Dorothy, Stockton

I lived in a farmhouse in the 30s so we had about half a dozen hens - I used to help out with them. There were no jobs so you had to go where the work was, and during the depression you went where the food was. We didn't sell them though because you had to register them if you wanted to sell the eggs. But I just went to feed them because that's just what you did. I didn't keep hens after I left home - I was sick of looking after them! They weren't like pets like they are today.

Jenny, Stockton

I kept hens when I worked on a farm when I was about 15. I liked farm work and I needed a job. There were hundreds! I helped clean them our, helped to feed them, lock them up, and put them away at night. The farm was in Halls during the war. Eggs were rationed so they were useful. I enjoyed it very much.'