Battery hens’ clucky rescue by Deerness couple

A Deerness couple have answered a nationwide callout to rehome 14,000 ex-battery hens.

Erika and Malcolm Marwick brought a dozen layers home from Inverness on Sunday, after spotting a desperate plea from the British Hen Welfare Trust. 

The charity rehomes up to 60,000 hens each year which have reached the end of their commercial life.

A fortnight ago, in a campaign branded “Mission Henpossible”, the trust launched an adoption appeal for 14,000 hens spanning locations across England, Wales and Scotland.

With a literal deadline of April 11 hanging over the heads of these battery-farmed hens, it was a no-brainer for Erika, who works at The Balfour, and Malcolm, who runs a groundworks and plant hire company. 

“We were sitting in the tearoom at work, a few of us at the same time saw this Facebook post from STV about these thousands of battery hens that were going to be killed if they weren’t rehomed,” Erika told The Orcadian on Tuesday morning, as her flock began to explore their new, free-range surroundings. 

“I immediately messaged my long-suffering husband, and said ‘We’re going to get some hens’.

Read the full story in The Orcadian, available now online and in shops.