VOLUNTEERS are celebrating after saving their 10,000th hen from being slaughtered.

The British Welfare Hen Trust team based out of Willow Farm in Chilton, near Didcot, have found new homes for the birds across Oxfordshire and beyond over the last six years.

Like the majority of the hens re-housed by the trust, the 10,000th was kept in a cage for the first 18 months of her life, laying eggs to be sold in supermarkets or put into processed foods.

The battery hen came to the trust without any feathers and in a thin and bedraggled state.

She, along with 247 others, was collected by volunteers last week as part of the latest batch to be saved from the slaughterhouse.

Nationally, the charity has found new homes for more than 620,000 battery birds across its 30 sites.

It regularly organises popular pick-up days where residents can collect laying hens for their back gardens or farms.

Oxford co-ordinator for the trust, Lucia Singer, said: “There is nothing more heart-warming than taking a hen from her cage knowing that within a few hours she’ll be scratching around on grass and stretching her wings in the sunshine.

“I’m so pleased we’ve been able to re-home our 10,000th hen – that’s 10,000 lives saved.

“But there are always more waiting to come out of their cages, so please get in touch if you can offer some hens a happy home.”

Ms Singer formerly worked at the RSPCA animal rescue centre which was based at Willow Farm before it closed in 2011.

The British Hen Welfare Trust then set up on the site in 2012 to continue the work to re-home animals in need.

The 10,000th rescued hen has now been christened Tenny Penny by new owner Nikki Absolom who travelled from Berkshire to collect her.

Ms Absolom said: “We are not very imaginative, so she only got a name due to her fame.

“However, it appears fame has gone to her head. She is a real diva and her favourite trick is to run at my legs and attack.

“Not just a little peck, but really running at me.”

Despite its successes, the British Welfare Hen Trust is warning it has a constant supply of birds who have reached the end of their commercial life that will need to find homes in the future.

It has already announced details of another 300 hens waiting to be adopted on Saturday, June 9, from its Chilton base.

Francesca Taffs, marketing officer at the trust, said the hens make great family pets and have been known to strike up close bonds with other animals including cats, dogs and even llamas.

If you’d like to re-home a flock register at www.bhwt.org.uk and then call on 01884 860084 to speak to the charity’s re-homing team.