School offers new home for rescued battery hens

RESCUED battery hens have found a new home helping school students in Wirral to learn more about how their food is produced.

The hens have been "adopted" by Year Nine pupils at Kilgarth School, in Birkenhead, who are also learning about animal wel- fare and food production.

The former battery hens moved in this week and turned teacher after being re-homed with the help of the Battery Hens Welfare Trust.

Headteacher Jane Daw- son said many pupils had little idea about the role animals played in the food chain, from farm to table.

She said that, with the help of local poultry expert Ky Thurland, they had adapted a hen house donated by another local hen keeper, Ann Carter.

The school plans to use the eggs, along with vegetables they are growing on their recently acquired allotment, to use in lunches, and to sell as part of an enterprise project. It is expected the hen project will also help the 13-year-old pupils work towards the aims of the Government-backed Year of Food and Farming, which is encouraging children to make informed food choices for healthy eating.