A chicken LOVE STORY

Jane Osgathorp reveals all about her home for retired hens – and how they have enriched her life

- SERENA SHORES

Whenever Senior Nurse Jane Osgathorp, 58, needs some downtime after a long, hard shift at the hospital, she always knows there are some feathered friends at the bottom of her garden to lift her spirits and brighten her day.

‘I have 18 hens at the moment, in three large runs, one of which I’ve nicknamed the “Thug’s Run”,’ smiles Jane, from Royston, Hertfordshire. ‘One particularly strong character is Helga.

‘She definitely rules the roost and is always the first up in the morning, jumping up to get first dibs at the corn! Then there’s my Ivy, who only has one eye,’ she continues. ‘ And my two sweet blind ladies, Sophie and Henny, who absolutely love a cuddle.’

As well as her demanding full-time job, Jane finds time to volunteer for the British Hen Welfare Trust, a charity formed in 2005 that works with egg farmers to save laying hens from slaughter once they are no longer commercially productive, and finds them loving new homes. Touchingly, the charity calls this ‘coming out for retirement’.

Jane firmly believes sitting quietly with hens can improve your mental health and offer the most amazing therapy to counteract the stresses of daily life.

‘Even though I never had chickens as a child, once they came into my life, they seemed to follow me around!’ Jane laughs. ‘It started 20 years ago when a neighbour moved and left two Light Sussex hens, which she asked us to look after.’