Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Social media Influ-hen-cer: Wonka the wonky beaked chicken is the peck leader
MEET the famous chicken with a wonky beak that was rescued from death’s door at a commercial egg farm.
Wonka the hen has captured the hearts of meat-eaters and vegans alike as her Facebook page, which shows her enjoying daily cuddles and engaging in her “unique” feeding routine, has gathered hundreds of followers.
Wonka, from Wool in Dorset, was born with a condition called cross beak where her upper and lower beaks are misaligned.
Cross beak is common among hens but uncommon for one of Wonka’s breed, a lohmann brown.
Jade Cooper, 30, has been caring for Wonka since her parents rescued the hen from a commercial egg farm in June 2021 as part of their family’s charity, Chicken Rescue UK.
Jade said: “She is amazing and has opened my eyes as to how smart these birds really are. Before I started this journey I didn’t know they can remember 100 faces.
“Wonka has even been to the top of Portland where we had a walk along the cliffs. She gets so much attention, people love her and who can blame them.”
Jade, who cares for a small flock of hens with other special needs, admits she was “heartbroken” when she first laid eyes on Wonka as the poor hen was severely malnourished.
But in the years that the two have shared together, Wonka has thrived in her new loving home.
Not only is Wonka double her weight now but has shown she has a “hilarious, intelligent and amazing” personality.
Jade, who also works as an artist in illustration and animation in Wareham, said: “I will be the first one to hold my hands up and say I didn’t care about chickens at all at first.
“It was my mum and dad as well as family friends who first started chicken rescue UK.
“My parents go to the farms themselves, in communication with the farmers as we want them to work with us, and during one visit my mum spotted Wonka out of a flock of about 1,000 hens.
“She was so pale, skinny and a
really depressed little thing and my mum asked me if I fancied rescuing her, though we couldn’t promise she would survive she was so underweight. “She just looked so defeated, but because I had experience with my previous hen I was determined to give it a go.
“Two years later she has a vibrant comb with a very cheeky personality – she’s hilarious.”
Jade admits that one of the biggest challenges in caring for Wonka was her unique feeding routine as due to her cross beak, the hen was unable to pick up her own food.
Jade explained: “It was a lot of trial and error. We had to work out the best way to feed her.
“At the beginning, we just had to hold her head as steady as possible and shovel food into her, just so she would have something in her stomach.
“We have now worked out a couple of good methods.
“During the summer I put chicken pellets into a paste, put them into a mold and freeze them. In the winter I make the same mixture but don’t freeze it so it’s like a soggy consistency for her.”
Jade also cares for eight special needs hens - a few of whom have cross beak (though Wonka has the most severe), brain damage and other physical disabilities.
Jade hopes to debunk common myths about chickens through Wonka’s facebook page, which she decided to set up as a fun project during lockdown to get Wonka and Chicken Rescue UK attention.
She explained: “A lot of people don’t realise how smart hens are.
“Wonka knows to bring herself to the door to get fed and has even found my bedroom before when I was sleeping - just so she can get her food!
“I set up the page in Halloween 2021 and Wonka’s such a personality everyone loves it.”