Homes for Hens
Thanks to a UK-based nonprofit, laying hens can trade life on the farm for free-range retirement.

Reading Time: 4 minutes
Jodi Helmer
In 2015, while discussing weekend plans, Shelly Jagger learned that a coworker planned to slaughter the chickens on her poultry farm to make room for the next batch of young laying hens.
“I was naïve; I didn’t know that it happened,” she recalls. “The hens were just 18 months old and had a lot of life and love ahead of them.”
Jagger was determined to save them. Her coworker agreed to hold off on slaughtering the group of 300 hens for two weeks so Jagger could figure out a plan. She jumped into action, calling a local dog rescue in her hometown of Northwest Lancashire, England, that had been in the news for rescuing and rehoming hens from a truck that overturned on its way to the processor. To her surprise — and relief — the dog rescue agreed to help. All of the hens scheduled to be slaughtered were adopted into new homes as pets.
“After that, I knew I couldn’t stop,” she says.

Jagger created Give a Hen a Home and partnered with her coworker to adopt out hens each time the farm was ready to rotate its free-range flock for younger laying hens. Word of her rescue efforts spread and, before long, Jagger was receiving calls from other poultry farmers who wanted to adopt out their hens, too.
“The farmers had obviously wanted to find another way,” she says. “They’re always amazed that I manage to rehome them and amazed at where people travel from to come and pick these hens up because, for them, hens are a business so for someone to travel an hour to get a hen for a pet is amazing to them.”
From Factory Farms to Forever Homes
Through the nonprofit, Jagger works with five farmers in the United Kingdom to adopt hundreds of laying hens in a single day. The farmers, who would have received a “meat price” to send their spent hens to the processor, now collect £2.50 per hen (about $3.30) in adoption fees instead.
Rehoming events are scheduled in advance. Adopters travel from far and wide to pick up hens on the farms and organizes each one to run like clockwork, collecting fees in advance, asking adopters to bring their own crates for transport and working with volunteers to collect the hens from the barns and send them off to their new homes. Despite meticulous planning, Jagger is always prepared for the unexpected.
Several adopters failed to show up to one event, leaving 50 hens without new homes. The farmer agreed to hold them for a week until Jagger could find new homes. She posted tirelessly on social media and made countless calls to ensure each one was adopted.

Last summer, Jagger received a call from a family that was closing down their poultry farm and wanted to find homes for 3,000 laying hens. It was the biggest rehoming request she’d ever received. Jagger joined forces with another rescue and, together, they found homes for all of the hens.
“I’ve never left a hen behind,” she says. “It’s very stressful at times and it does take over my life but knowing, when you get home, that 600 hens have gone on to live their lives with wonderful families makes me want to do it all over again.”
Clucking Awesome Pets
Jagger isn’t the only one eager to help hens. Adopters love the concept, too.
Most poultry farmers in the U.K. raise Isa Brown hens, which Jagger believes make great pets.
“Most of the hens have been raised in barns and might be a little wary at first; it can take them a week to come out of the coop to start adventuring but, once they get comfortable, they are the friendliest breed of hens I’ve come across,” she says. “They are quite cheeky and inquisitive, like dogs with wings.”
Jagger requires adopters to take a minimum of three hens but will make exceptions for adopters who have hens at home. She maintains an active Facebook page and encourages adopters to post photos of their hens settling into their new homes. The photos and stories, she explains, help potential adopters see how love and a new environment can transform production animals into adorable pets.

“Some of the hens can be pretty naked when we get them; they are either bored or picked on in the barns and their feathers are missing,” he explains. “It’s good for potential adopters to see that, yes, they may look a bit scraggly at the start but look at them after six weeks.”

Thanks to the friendly hens and lifesaving mission of Give a Hen a Home, it doesn’t take long for adopters to start adding to their flocks. Since 2015, Give a Hen a Home has rescued and rehomed 10,000 laying hens. The organization has also helped rehome roosters and, starting in 2020, Jagger will be working with a farmer to rehome ducks.
“Some of our adopters from 2015 have lost hens or got addicted and want to add more,” Jagger says. “Whether someone comes for three hens or 20, I appreciate all of the adopters.”
Jagger likes to think that the hens appreciate the adopters, too, adding, “Even if they have six to eight months after they’re free, I know they died in a loving environment with grass and sunshine and love; that is the nicest ending for them.”
Originally published in the June/July 2020 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.
Love it! I raise heritage breeds and mixed bred chickens in West Virginia, USA and that’s a great idea. I’ve taken in chickens from others as well and rehomed several of my roosters. I’ve got crossed breeds that are 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 years old who are still laying up yo 5 days a week. ISA Browns are quite friendly most of the time. I only had one but she could be a witch some days. I got her as a chick in 2017, sadly last year (2019) I found her dead of a prolapsed vent. She laid extra jumbo eggs, bigger than khaki Campbell duck eggs. Her name was ALLIE, she was one of my favorites and was 1 of my first 23 standard chickens. I had only bantam breeds for 2 years prior.