17 May 2000

Chicken Rescue Centre Appeals for help

Martin Hudspeth started to rescue battery hens a few years ago when he bought 4 hens from a battery farm to supply himself with fresh free range eggs every morning. To his horror the hens he received had no feathers and were scared of each other, their own eggs, their own droppings, the ground and even scared of the sun! He had to teach them what food and water looked like and how to look after themselves. It was 3 months before he got his first egg! As the 4 hens settled into their new way of life they began producing more eggs than Martin could eat and he decided to sell the surplus to pay for the hens' feed. But the world turned and the story developed.. As soon as he told people that the eggs were from ex-battery hens, they told their friends and they told their friends and so on. The attitude of Martin's new consumers was: "The more eggs we need the more hens you need to save... and we feel we are doing our part in saving the hens by buying your eggs to pay for the feed." Trade developed and Martin Hudspeth 'The Eggman' had begun to rescue chickens. One day the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) asked him to take in some chickens.... he took all of them and told the RSPCA that if they have problems to give the 'Chicken Rescue Centre' a call and he would ALWAYS accept them. In June 1999 Martin applied to the Princes Youth Business Trust (PYBT) to start up the Chicken Rescue Centre and a free range egg farm, and in October received the finance needed to rent a field and buy electric fencing. By February of this year he was able to take in another 100 hens but the finance from the egg sales are barely covering the feed at the moment let alone the vet bills. He is now appealing to the public. You can help by adopting an ex-battery hen. For a small adoption fee you can receive an email 4 times a year with pictures of your hen so that you can see how she is recovering and adapting to her new environment. You can contact the Chicken Rescue Centre by email: martinhudspeth@yahoo.com Or drop a line to: The limes farm Hinckley Road Sapcote Leicestershire LE9 4LG Seeing the world for the first time