Chickens | Brockswood Animal Sanctuary

Chickens
(Gallus gallus domesticus)

We have a large number of chickens at the sanctuary, as sadly these animals have become throwaway "objects" to many people - in fact, almost all of our chickens were literally dumped outside our gates or physically thrown over the fence! Please Note: we are currently at capacity and sadly cannot take in any more at the moment.

Although we do have some hens, the majority of our chickens are roosters (male chickens). As roosters can be noisy, aggressive, and don't lay eggs; they are usually undesirable to people - but we love our beautiful, feisty boys!

We have a variety of breeds, such as Cream Legbar, Sussex, Bantam, Maran, and several other mixes. They all have very different personalities, likes/dislikes, temperaments and behaviours, and are an absolute joy to care for!

Meet the Sheep

Tony

The very handsome Tony was abandoned here in 2021. He arrived at a difficult time during the Avian Influenza epidemic and underwent a very long quarantine period, so when the Prevention Zone was lifted later in the year we were pleased to finally introduce him to the rest of the sanctuary and residents! A very friendly rooster, he sometimes enjoys free-ranging and following us around, inquisitive in all that we're doing.

With his very friendly nature and cheeky personality, Tony has become quite a favourite amongst some members of the team and has formed a special friendship with one of our volunteers, often seen sitting together or perched up on his knee. The love clearly extends both ways.

Betty, Danny & David.

Betty's Group

This group of chickens were, sadly, like most of our chickens, simply dumped at our sanctuary gates when they were less than a year old!

Davy Jones

Davy and Jack were sadly left on our car park in a cardboard box. They are some of the friendliest chickens we have ever had the pleasure to know! They absolutely love attention from us and like to sit on us - they even enjoy meeting new people and will sometimes come out to see you! We can't imagine why anybody could want to dump them like that.

Sadly this is the case for roosters all over as hatching projects continue to grow in popularity and people don't stop to think about what will become of the chickens that hatch, especially if they are male; who will be unable to lay eggs and will often crow loudly and cause complaints from neighbours. Please think before you hatch!

Boris & Winnie

We arrived early one October morning to find a group of hens running around, abandoned on our car park. A couple of them were quite underweight and unwell and needed urgent veterinary treatment. As it was so close to Halloween, they became our little coven, named after famous witches.

The group was joined by one of our lone roosters, Boris (who was also abandoned here) and they have been a happy family ever since! He is fiercely protective and very proud of his beautiful hens and sure to give us the occasional peck to remind us that he is the ruler of the roost. A happy ending for these lovely birds!

Shang & Mulan

Under Construction

Kylo Hen, Hen Solo, & Jabba the Cluck

Star Clucks

These lovely hens were sadly found on our car park taped up in a box! These beautiful bantams are very friendly and have a lot of personality. They were recently joined by Jabba the Cluck, a rooster who was also abandoned at the sanctuary and needed somewhere to call home. All of our aviaries were full when he completed his quarantine period and we were unsure where he would be able to go, and hoped that he would get along with the lovely hens in the group. Thankfully, it was an instant friendship and they are all very happy together!

This group also happily share a home with our cockatiel residents, co-habiting very well together!

Gari & Ginger

These lovely little Silkie Bantams were found abandoned on our car park in the spring of 2018.

Silkie

Ted

Under Construction

Steve

Steve joined us in 2015 after we heard crowing over the Cotwall End Nature Reserve behind the sanctuary. A thorough search from our team eventually led us to him, caught up in brambles deep in the undergrowth! Many scrapes and scratches later for our team, we managed to extract him safely and get him back to the Brockswood to safety. He was a very grumpy boy (although he has now mellowed a little with age) and we suspect this may be one of the reasons that he was abandoned, but we take it all as part of his character - something all of our chickens are brimming with! No chicken is ever just a chicken, they all have individual personalities, temperaments, likes and dislikes and we hope by meeting some of ours you will see this too!

Turtle & Floof

Under Construction

Apollo

Apollo was thankfully spotted on our CCTV, running around our car park back in 2021. Another sadly abandoned animal, left behind without even a box or carrier for any form of security. When we found masses of feathers also blowing around, we were concerned that he was perhaps one of several, but a check back through our security recordings showed us he had been chased and actually grabbed by a passing dog off-lead. Thankfully, the wounds were superficial and following a lot of extra care, his feathers eventually grew back too, along with his confidence!

Apollo was the chief god of healing in the Greek Pantheon and so our Apollo has become our poster-boy for our sanctuary chicken health resources!

Fact Friday: Chicken Vision - Colour

Not only do chickens see in colour, but in many ways, these wonderful little birds have better vision than us humans!

Lockdown Learning Activities: Happy Chickens

When caring for animals in captivity, it is important that all of their needs are met; this includes making sure they have a good diet,...

Lockdown: The Birds

On top of the continuing battle against Coronavirus, we are now fighting Avian Influenza (Bird Flu). Following several very serious cases...

Forever in Our Hearts

Although these beautiful chickens are no longer with us and are missed so very much, they live on always in our hearts and minds. As long as we continue to speak their names and tell their stories, they are still with us and will never be forgotten!