As a young boy of 10 ( thats over half a century ago ) I had an allotment on which I kept a few hens, I also new a small holder nearby who had a shed full of battery birds and one day talking to him I noticed 2 birds lying on their sides outside the shed, asking him what was wrong with them he just said that he found them on the bottom of their cages that morning and he put them outside where they either lived or died where they lay as it was not worth the money or the effort to save them. He then told me that if ever I saw hens outside like that I could have them !!! I thought he was crazy, giving away birds for free !!! so I took those 2 birds and also many more and with a little TLC they became the core of my flock. Now many years later I have 4 birds in my back garden pen and my wife and I take delight in the antics that they get up to. Later this year I will increse the size of their pen and then get another 2 birds and you won't need many guesses to know where they will come from.

Ian Bradley. Fife, Scotland.

Assistant Editor for British Traditional Field Sports