What a heart-warming sight it is to see a field of hens out in the grass, their natural behaviour being freely expressed.
Here at the Caring For Life Egg Project, our free-range flock of over 700 hens enjoy spending each day doing just that; scratching in the ground, bathing in the dust and basking in the sun.
The soothing little noises they make as they are scratching about seems to add audible proof that these hens are enjoying a contented life.
Caring for these birds and seeing the many positive effects of looking after them well is proving very beneficial to the people in our care. Being part of such a productive work helps build confidence and self-esteem. For example, one of our young ladies was very nervous about the hens when the flock first arrived. She couldn’t hold them or go near them and was constantly afraid they might peck her. When the next flock arrived she wanted the hens to be passed to her so she could cuddle each one before gently putting them on their perches. It is really lovely when you can see the people we look after growing in confidence and starting to take initiative in caring for the animals, making sure they are happy and healthy.
The daily tasks in the egg room are valuable for the development of numeracy, coordination and social skills. We do a lot of counting here! We are currently collecting over 4000 eggs each week! A large proportion of the people we are working with have limited confidence when it comes to maths, so when they begin to learn how to count the eggs in boxes (6 or 12 eggs), or on one tray (30 eggs) this is a step forward. When they are then able to say how many eggs are on several trays or a stack (6 trays) this gives them a huge sense of achievement and is a great encouragement to them.
Coordination skills are developed when putting eggs into the trays or boxes and also when we grade the eggs. Putting the eggs from the ‘size’ column it has rolled down into and then into the correct tray is quite a skill and is developed slowly, by practising one egg at a time.
Social skills are developed as the beneficiaries learn to be able to work as part of a team, sharing and helping each other with different tasks. They begin to realise that working together and helping each other is beneficial to all.
The people in our care also benefit from the peaceful environment of the project. We are overlooking fields and trees and we can hear birdsong all around us. We are reminded of God’s amazing creation every day. Everywhere we look we see many different animals, flowers and beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Only this week as I write this article we have seen a weasel and a fox running up the side of our field. We also had a Red Kite swoop down low across the field on the same day!
The Hens
The hens that we currently have are called Lohmann Browns. These are a modern hybrid-laying hen with an egg production percentage of more than 90% over a 60 week period. These hens have been bred to be very efficient egg layers without consuming huge quantities of feed. The current flock has been given to us by a supporter who owns a free-range hen farm in Suffolk. This was a huge gift to Caring For Life and we are very thankful for it. The hens usually come to us at about 16 weeks of age and we keep them till they are 72 weeks old. At this point the shell quality of the eggs is severely deteriorating and we begin to get a high proportion of the eggs cracking. The colour of the shell also alters to a pale brown or creamy coloured shell rather than the deep brown we get when the hens are young and at the peak of their productive lives. When the hens are laying well the percentage lay can be as good as 96% but as they get older this drops and by the time they leave us it is usually down to about 70%.
Lighting
Lighting is one of the major factors in the development of the hens and their egg laying potential. When the hens come to us at between 16 and 18 weeks they are on 10 hours of daylight. They are weighed, and when appropriate, usually at 18 weeks the light is increased by one hour per week until they are on 16 hours of light per day. We achieve this by artificially lighting the houses. This is especially important during the winter months when natural daylight is significantly reduced. We have a timer system in the hen houses with the light coming on and off at designated times. The hens will then stay at 16 hours of daylight for the rest of their laying cycle.
The Hen house
The sheds comprise of a perching area, feeding area and nesting area. The hens are bedded on wood shavings, which they enjoy scratching about in. The water dispensers are situated along the perches so that the hens have easy access to them. When the hens first arrive they need encouraging to perch at night. This involves going into the sheds when the lights are off and lifting all the hens up onto the perches. This is quite a task and a great form of fitness training when you have over 700 hens! This is actually a very important job. If it was not done the hens would crowd together in a corner and the ones at the bottom could be suffocated. We normally perch them for 2-3 weeks, by which time they have got the hang of it!
Feed
The hens are fed on a complete feed called a ‘mash’. This contains all the nutrition the hen needs including protein, vitamins and minerals. The hens are fed twice a day and the quantity given per bird ranges from 100g up to about 150g at peak lay. They will tend to eat slightly more when the temperature drops. They are fed on different feeds during their laying cycle. The reason for this is that their requirements for Energy, protein and certain nutrients change with age. For example, the initial feed has a higher proportion of these ingredients than the final feed as the hens are not working so hard when they are older and therefore don’t need the same amount of energy as they did when they were younger. Whereas, the fibre content of the diet increases as the hens get older.
Salmonella Testing
We routinely test the hens for salmonella to ensure the eggs are safe to eat. This testing happens every 15 weeks and is sent off to a laboratory for testing.
Weighing
The hens are weighed weekly when they first come to us. This is to make sure they are healthy and gaining weight steadily. This also shows us when we can start increasing the light hour by hour. The hens need to be a good weight otherwise egg production may start prematurely and that could cause problems later on in their cycle and they might not reach their full weight potential.
Egg deliveries
We have a local egg delivery round which goes out every week on a Friday and once a fortnight, on a Tuesday.
FREDA’s
The start of the new Free Range Egg Distributing Agents (“FREDA”) scheme has proved very helpful to us. We have a few people who come up to the farm once a fortnight to collect between 10 and 30 dozen eggs to deliver to people in their local churches and neighbourhood. These people are extremely valuable to us as we are able to sell more eggs this way. If anyone is interested in becoming a FREDA, please call the farm and we will be happy to give you any of the information you require.
A typical day on the Egg and Poultry project
First thing in the morning we let the hens out to range freely in the field (and wherever else they decide to go!) We have one hen in particular that enjoys a walk down to the Granary Café first thing each morning! We also have two other hens that have decided the hen house isn’t quite up to their requirements: they go round the corner to the stables and lay their eggs with the horses!
The hens are then fed and the eggs are collected. Hens normally lay their eggs in the morning, soon after the lights come on. As a result we have the largest collect of the day first thing in the morning, up to 600 eggs from about 650 chickens.
By the time we have finished feeding the hens and collecting the eggs, the hens are soon ranging far out into the field. We check that the drinking water is running properly and that there are no leaks. We also walk around checking that all the hens are looking bright and healthy. The current flock we have are very friendly and they will come over to us and feed out of our hands.
Once we have fed and checked the hens and collected the eggs, we go into the egg room and start sorting out the eggs we have collected. We sort them into three piles: eggs that are clean (Class A), eggs that need washing and eggs that are cracked or dirty and too bad to clean. Once the eggs have been sorted, the Class A eggs are graded. This involves putting the eggs onto a conveyor belt, which passes over a light bulb. We are then able to see through the egg, which shows up any cracks or abnormalities with it. If there are any problems, the egg is removed at this point. The eggs are then weighed by the grading machine and roll down into the correct column. This is how we know what size each egg is. The eggs then get put into blue trays, and are stacked up and dated. The eggs can then be boxed up, labelled, and taken down to the shop to be sold.
Later on in the day, the hens go back into their sheds and we give them some more feed. 
At this point we check the water again, record the temperature of the shed, check the hens are all healthy and that none are stuck in the nest boxes.
Other jobs we do on a regular basis are: cleaning the egg room, sweeping, mopping, cleaning tables, emptying the bin and wiping the walls. We also weigh the hens, keep the feed shed floor clean, clear the concrete area outside the hen houses, and brush the nest boxes out to keep the area clean. This ensures the eggs come out into a clean environment.
The hens that we have are very friendly, which makes a real difference for the people looking after them. They always follow you as you are walking about; it is so lovely to see the beneficiaries taking a walk in the field with a large group of chickens trotting along behind them!
