The farmer who gets so attached to her hens that she can’t bear to send them to slaughter Farmer Susie Mac tries to rehome all her hens after their egg-laying career with families looking for a new pet for their back garden

Serina Sandhu meets the farmer promising her chicks a happy retirement

I am standing in a field surrounded by thousands of hens picking at my wellies. It’s the stuff of nightmares – but not for Susie Mac, of Mac’s Farm in Ditchling, East Sussex. She says she can’t help being attached to her “girls” – and they are obviously attached to her: when we walk into the field, they swarm around her.

Such is the attachment that when these hens have served their 72-week egg-laying time – producing organic, free-range eggs every day – they won’t be sent to slaughter as they would on other farms, to become pet or baby food.

“We had to slaughter in the past and I never liked it. When we took over the farm from my parents, it was something I could do something about” The i newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Susie Mac, farmer

Instead, they will be rehomed, like the hens being carried out from the barn upside-down, a gentle hand around their neck, legs in the air, to be carefully placed into crates, clucking all the while.

With their commercial life behind them, they are being sent to a happy retirement in back gardens across the nation. Since 5am, volunteers have been crating up 2,800 birds. By 8am, vans are heading to Wales and Newcastle.

‘Not a very good farmer’

Susie Mac’s aversion to killing means she doesn’t consider herself to be a “very good farmer”. Nevertheless, the 46-year-old, who spearheaded rehoming 10 years ago, has saved 90,000 birds from slaughter.

“We had to [slaughter] in the past and I never liked it. When we took over the farm [from my parents], it was something I could do something about,” she says.

There are 18,000 hens on The Mac’s Farm, which measures just under 100 acres. They’re housed across four spacious barns and can roam freely outside.

How does rehoming work? On commercial farms, hens tend to be slaughtered at around 72 weeks, when egg production begins to diminish and quality starts to deteriorate. “They go into cheap pies, pet food, dog food, baby food. But they can carry on living for about two-and-a-half to five years,” says Caroline Ashby of Fresh Start for Hens. Hens that do so continue to produce eggs and so are ideal for families who want enough to feed themselves and perhaps sell a few locally. If you would like to rehome hens, make sure you have ready a dog- and fox-proof home, such as a run, and a suitable container to take them away. It’s best to take at least two hens because they are flock birds. Visit freshstartforhens.co.uk for more information

Despite the chill of the morning, Fresh Start For Hens, one of two organisations Mac’s Farm works with, is working at lightning speed to pack up the hens that have done their time. The group will be delivering chickens to 23 locations, where they will be picked up by families on the other end.

In 2018, the group rehomed a record number of birds. While the exact figure is unknown, it is thought to be in the region of 40,000 to 50,000 from numerous farms. Now it is calling on more volunteers to join, so that it can expand its work and save even more hens.

‘We can’t rescue them all’

The record number is not enough for volunteer Caroline Ashby. “The awful thing is that there are so many [hens], we can’t rescue them all,” says the 58-year-old from Crawley. “We do what we can and we know that they make wonderful pets.”

The process is kicked off by first “fluffing” (gathering together) the hens in the barn so that catchers can get a hold of them. They’re handed to runners, who carry them upside-down – which is the safest way, as it stops them flapping – to the crateing station, where they are placed in crates of 12 before being loaded onto vans.

“I think that every living creature has a right to their life and shouldn’t be slaughtered” Sue Baumgardt, rehomes hens

The birds spend no longer than eight hours in their crates, but Ms Ashby admits it can be a stressful experience. “But we don’t have many fatalities put down to stress,” she emphasises. “It’s no more stressful than throwing the hens onto a slaughter lorry. And this gives them a happy retirement.”

Down by The Mac’s Farm egg shack, where customers can pick up fresh eggs directly, another rehoming station has been set up by 73-year-old Sue Baumgardt, on behalf of Brighton Animal Action.

“I think that every living creature has a right to their life and shouldn’t be slaughtered,” says the strict vegan. While she views egg farming as exploitation, she works with Mac’s because she knows the farm has high welfare standards.

Everyone adores the eggs

Some of her customers collect two hens, others take home 30. Many like introducing wildlife to their garden while others enjoy their character. But everyone adores the eggs. “The eggs are so much more yellow than commercial ones,” declares Neil Abraham, who is here to collect two hens with wife Tess and sons Freddie, six, Billy, four, and one-year-old Barney.

The Abrahams take their hens in a pet carrier, while another opts to stuff her Mercedes with eight in cardboard boxes.

Susie, who prides herself on her farm’s welfare standards, is strict about who can take home her hens, with one of the requirements being suitable boxes. She supports customers paying a small amount for each bird, usually between £1 and £2.50.

“Hens are worth something. If you give animals away, God knows what someone would do with them. If you charge, people are more likely to care for them.”

‘Don’t blame farmers, blame consumers’

Despite her mission to save her hens from slaughter, Mac is well aware of the growing calls from activists and vegans to end animal farming altogether.

She is diplomatic. “The whole world is not suddenly going to not eat meat and eggs,” she says. “Instead of blaming farmers, blame the consumers for eating it.”

If she stopped farming hens, another farm with possibly worse welfare standards would simply expand, she says. “That’s fewer birds who aren’t rehomed. They haven’t saved anything.”

Ms Mac believes the animal welfare debate should take farmers more seriously. “We work with these animals every single day. We know what’s good welfare and what isn’t. We also know what’s a complete and utter bloody waste of time.”

Brexit and welfare standards

The mother-of-four, who lives on the farm grounds with her family, fears the implications Brexit will have on food standards and where products will be imported from.

“If it starts coming in by the barrel load from America, we can’t compete on price with that because their standards are…not… standards,” she says, carefully choosing her words.

“If you start importing organic eggs, where does that leave our industry?

“We want to be moving forwards with our welfare and not backwards… People will get more and more used to getting cheaper and cheaper food and they will demand it more.”

Ms Mac wants people to understand where their food comes from and suggests that all farms should open their gates to the public.

“Just understand how far your food has travelled, even if you’re a vegetarian your food could have travelled halfway around the world and you might not be aware. Everyone just needs to be more aware. Farming could play such a key role, in a really positive way, in helping people to understand.”