My monthly chicken columns which appear in The Scotsman Magazine, where you get the low down about what’s happening here at Hen HQ.
Hens
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column November 2024
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column October 2024
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column July 2024
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column June 2024
Press & Journal comment article on enriched cages potentially being banned in Scotland
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column April 2024
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column April 2024
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column January 2024
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column December 2023
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column November 2023
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column October 2023
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column September 2023
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column 12th August 2023
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column 15th July 2023
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column 17th June 2023
Counting your chickens and realising you might be addicted to hoards of hens
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column 15th April 2023
Scotsman Magazine Peking order hen column 17th March 2023
Birds of a feather flock together in the bid to prevent spread of avian flu. Scotsman Magazine hen column for 24th September
Cold War solutions are the only answer to protect Nancy from the mean girls
The grass is always greener for Houdini with her garden break out regime
The endearing and true adventures of the little Christmas chicken. As it’s nearly Christmas, I thought I would share an endearing and true story about how one very special hen came to live with her owner. One winter’s morning, a kindly poultry keeper was driving along a quiet country lane when they spied a lone hen strutting along the middle of the road. As there were no houses nearby, the hero of this story knew this bird had no owner. She had simply gone AWOL, probably most likely from a nearby poultry farm. As the hen fan did not want to see a flattened spatchcock chicken, they carefully shooed the bird of very little brain from the highway onto the verge. The hen seemed oblivious to the danger she was in and nonplussed by the whole affair. She simply carried on pecking at tasty morsels she had found by the roadside. Our concerned citizen carefully explained to the chicken that crossing the road was probably not the best idea for longevity. But as the driver was in a bit of a hurry to get to work they returned to their motor vehicle and continued on their way. All the while glancing back in the rear-view mirror, concerned about the hen’s welfare. That night as dusk fell they drove back along the same rural byway expecting to find a squashed bird. But our hero could not believe their eyes, in the same spot, the little brown hen was alive and sitting down right in the middle of the road. They drew alongside the fowl, opened the passenger door and struck up a conversation with the bird. The poultry keeper said, “Look, the choice is entirely up to you. It is getting dark, you can either stay on the road here and most likely get run over or eaten by a fox in the night or you can take a chance on me and hop in and come and stay with me and the rest of my flock.” The poultry keeper then went on to explain to the chook, exactly who was who in their henhouse back home. That must have done the trick, as the bird put her head on one side in quiet contemplation for a second, then casually strolled over to the open car door and hopped into the footwell of her own accord. It gives me great pleasure to report that the bird lived a long and happy life at the top of the pecking order in a small backyard flock. Now all that is left to do before the big day is wrap my hens’ presents and wish you and your flock Merry Christmas from the girls.
