Julie Smith

It started when I was in plaster I'd had to give up a job I loved and couldn't ride my horses - it was the 3rd op out of 6 so far. I have osteoarthritis in both hands and wrists and have had them partly and fully fused.

We live in the country my daughter works while studying at a free-range egg farm, she was banned from taking anymore hens home who were injured to her boyfriends place. She fetched me one hen, we called her Hettie she was in a poor state I actually took her to the vet for antibiotic but sadly she died. My daughter calls it Hettie hospital.

I now have about 45 not all Hetties I also breed and show vorwerks have a few runner ducks. I still take in the Hetties and have a coop of limpy hens that have come with either deformities from old breaks or have new ones I splint until healed. From peck injuries to nasty open wounds their ability to heal once separate and treated is astounding. I rehome the fully recovered that can go back with other hens. It's time consuming but rewarding I remember my famous last words after finding out my daughter had been banned from having anymore hens. No way, don't ask we're not having any chickens here, lol.

Annie Green, UK

My hen story is a word of caution. Please don't read this if you are easily upset by the death of a hen.

I had had my hens for about 6 months and had never had any problems from Mr Fox. All three of my girls free ranged in the garden and were 'secure' inside a 6ft high fence. My dog, Stanley, would never let anything in to the garden, not even a strange cat and we had/have cats of our own but he still wouldn't let other cats in.

I would stand and watch my girls digging about and pulling up the weeds and plants and often reminded myself that I really must get a run... one day soon.

On a rather warm sunday afternoon the girls were indeed free ranging and I was out with them pottering around in the garden. Eventually my daughter knocked on the door for a coffee, she lives 6 doors away, and it was nice just to sit and chat together without my beloved grandchildren stealing all the attention. I love them to bits but sometimes you just want a one to one girly chat. So I popped the kettle on and we soon settled down at the kitchen table for our much missed chinwag safe in the knowledge that my girls were being cared for by Stanley. After a few minutes we heard one of the chooks squawk then some kind of banging noise. Both myself and my daughter were out of our seats and into the garden in a flash, closely followed, then overtaken, by Stanley. The banging continued for what seemed like forever and it took us a few minutes for fathom out which direction the banging was coming from. My two other chooks were hiding behind me as quiet as mice.

Me and daughter raced to the bottom of the garden and into the bushes just in time to spot Mr Fox jump over the fence into next doors garden. I swear he had nothing in his mouth and he wasn't alone with my poor chicken long enough to do anything but kill her. We knew she was dead and searched for a very long time to find her body but she was gone. We never found her and we were both heart broken. It was my fault and I will never forgive myself for being so complacent. Now I have 9 chickens and all of them are housed in the biggest run I could fit into my garden. They still free range but only when I can stay out there too. If anyone knocks on my door I ignore them. My girls are far too precious to risk them again.

Claire Walsh

In May 2014 I saw a crash on the M62, where a truck driver spilled his load of ex battery hens onto the motorway. Over a thousand dead, and some 2000 left wandering. My Ladies were rescued from being slammed back onto the truck by a group of people who went down to help save the live hens. We got our Ladies the day after the crash, from the shed where the poorly hens were being kept before they left for rescues. We took home SJ, Amybird and Clara, the impossible chicken. Sadly, we lost Clara a few days afterwards as her pelvis was shattered. We then gained Donna and Martha from the same crash a few days later. Joining the flock was Gertie, an old ex batt who came to us to live out her days with us as she was a lone bird.

Sadly, we lost Gertie to old age and Donna to EYP, but Amy, SJ and Martha are still going strong. It was a struggle, watching them at first, to understand just why they were in this state. Parallel to the injuries from the crash, they were bald, and their poor beaks were dreadfully wonky. It has taken 10 months for the worst of the beaks to regrow/trim down to a point where Amy can now pick up food.

These Ladies are such funny little girls, and a huge entertainment to us all. The eggs are welcomed also, though if they decided to stop laying tomorrow, they'd all have homes till the end of their days. We are beginners, and boy were we thrown in at the deep end, but we wouldn't change it at all!

They even have their own Facebook page! www.facebook.com/cluckybunch