Cooped up with our new favourite pets

More of us started to keep chickens during lockdown, with rescue hens a popular choice,

Move over, tortoises. Break the news gently to dwarf rabbits. The nation has a new favourite outdoor pet – though it’s one the British have been keeping since before records began – because not only do chickens provide constant amusement and intrigue, they also lay eggs. And after several months when our ability to buy the most basic foodstuffs remained in doubt, perhaps it’s not surprising that keeping hens has suddenly become appealing.

According to a recent survey by Chickenguard, chickens are now five times as popular as hamsters, with more than five million chickens being kept in gardens across Britain. Most chicken owners keep at least five birds, and (much to their neighbours’ horror) one cockerel.

Chicken-keeping is increasingly popular with celebrities, too, with Countdown’s Nick Hewer revealing he spent lockdown caring for his brood, and collecting eggs “without getting pecked – quite a challenge”, while Princess Anne keeps a flock at Gatcombe. “She puts her welly boots on… and goes to get her eggs,” her son Peter revealed recently. Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts each own a flock, and Reese Witherspoon said she loved hers because “they remind me of where I grew up in Tennessee”. Supermodel Gisele Bündchen keeps them to show her daughter, Vivian, where food comes from.

But the chicken keepers of Britain are often ordinary types who simply enjoy the novelty of a different kind of pet, and love the idea of giving their flocks a better life, while eating eggs from the bottom of the garden.

Rescue hens are increasingly popular, says Jane Howarth, who founded and runs the British Hen Welfare Trust in Devon. “We’d normally find homes for 60 to 65,000 hens a year – but during the first weeks of lockdown, inquiries tripled,” she says. “People had time on their hands – plus they wanted eggs!”

The trust works with farmers and rescues up to 4,000 birds at a time. “Every one already has a home waiting,” says Jane. “We collect from the farm in the morning, and they go to their new homes in the afternoon. It’s a logistical miracle, but it works.”

The hens go in flocks of three or more, as they are not solitary birds, but, she adds, “they’re very adaptable. They don’t mind if it’s a small suburban back garden or a stately home.”

Many families acquire chickens to teach children about where eggs come from, but then fall in love with the birds themselves. “We started with a handful, but now we have nine,” says Victoria Hocking, 42, from Paignton, whose husband Dean initially persuaded her to get a chicken for their five-year-old son, Barnaby.

“Although we bought them as pets and I’ll often find Barnaby sitting outside talking to them or giving them a cuddle, during lockdown we realised just how handy it is to have chickens,” says Victoria. “We’re getting around five or six eggs a day.”

They all have different personalities, she adds. “Our silkies – chickens so fluffy they look like llamas – are thick as two short planks,” she admits. “When we first bought them, the farmer gave them to us in an open cardboard box and I was worried they’d fly away. But they just sat there, not bothering to escape.” Her favourite, Mango, “sits on the coop roof every night and refuses to go inside until she’s had a cuddle”.

“They are so clever at immersing themselves in family life,” says Jane. “They’re very addictive and I think demand will continue to rise.”

Rescue chickens are particularly life-enriching, adds Jane. “They go on to lead such happy, free-range lives – and bring so much pleasure to the people who keep them.”