King adopts hens spared from the slaughterhouse

Laying eggs day after dreary day in a commercial chicken farm, Henrietta’s aspirations for the future are unlikely to have amounted to much.
The hen had good reason to be pessimistic, with her retirement after 18 months of consistent work set to be rounded off with a trip to the slaughterhouse.
So when she was escorted in a bespoke carrier made by the British designer Lulu Guinness after being bestowed the promise of a longer life, she must have felt like royalty.
And it is royalty that she has become. For Henrietta has been adopted by the King and will spend her retirement in the gardens of his Highgrove estate.
The King decided to become the hen’s adoptive guardian after being personally asked if he wanted to be the recipient of the British Hen Welfare Trust’s millionth rehomed bird.
The charity’s founder Jane Howorth wrote to the King last December asking if he would have room for a small coop and three hens at Buckingham Palace.
The charity works in the UK and France to rehome some of the millions of hens who are routinely slaughtered after reaching what is deemed their peak egg-laying age.
Weeks after approaching the King, an “extremely supportive” response arrived from his office saying that he would not only be happy to help, but had capacity to take on even more hens.
The deal resulted in 31 birds being awarded a gold-plated retirement as they were transported to the King and Queen’s Gloucestershire home on August 17 from a nearby farm.
Special carriage was given to the one millionth hen, which the King personally named Henrietta. The name has royal connotations as Henrietta Maria of France was the Queen Consort to Charles I from 1625 to 1649.
Henrietta the hen arrived at the estate in a carrier fashioned as an elaborate replica of Highgrove House by Guinness.
The renowned designer was approached by the charity and eagerly agreed to take part in the royal adoption.
“She is such a clever, kind lady,” Howorth said. “When she was asked if she would consider it, she said, ‘It’s the best project that I’ve been given this year’.”
Howorth created the charity in 2005, then named the Battery Hen Welfare Trust, having already spent years saving chickens from slaughter.
Originally aiming to save a lorry-load of 4,000, the charity has expanded, with an army of 1,400 volunteers and rehoming points across the country.
The growth has been aided by the rise in popularity of keeping egg-laying chickens in residential settings and as family pets. Hens live for an average of five to six years after they are due for slaughter.
The hens living in Highgrove are in a temporary coop and will be introduced to the rest of the royal flock on the estate, near Tetbury. The King has yet to meet his adopted birds.
Recalling her decision to write to the King, Howorth said: “I’ve always felt that His Majesty is just a wonderful advocate for all things relating to nature and animals. So I asked and I was thrilled that he came back and said he would indeed like three hens and he’d like more.”
Howorth said she “squealed with delight” when the letter from the King’s private secretary came through.
“He’s been following our progress and has been watching us develop and is really thrilled for us. It was a very personal letter, hence the squeal.”
Howorth credits the British egg industry for rapidly improving standards, aided by consumers’ increasing preference for high-welfare and free-range eggs.
The hens at Highgrove will join a range of other animals on the estate, where the gardens are open to the public and run by the King’s Foundation.
On a trip to Jersey in July, the King and Queen were given seven Jersey heifers to go back to live at Home Farm at Highgrove.
Reflecting on the new life for the chickens she helped save, Howorth added: “I would imagine that they are very happy hens and in gratitude for everything they are being given.”