Rescue hen makes finals of PETA’s ‘Best Chicken Competition’

Stephen Price

Henniepops the rescue chicken from Powys who was saved from slaughter after her egg production waned has become a Finalist in PETA’s ‘Best Chicken Competition’

Now living a life of freedom near Welshpool, Powys, Henniepops has joined the “top flock” of feathery finalists and been chosen in PETA’s first-ever “Best Chicken” competition.

Henniepops was rescued from an egg factory farm that deemed the hens unprofitable due to their waning egg production.

Voting is now open to the public to help determine the winner, who will be revealed by March 31..

According to her guardian, Sarah Brayne, Henniepops survived several infections and was on the brink of death, but her caring family hand-fed her to recovery.

When she sees her purple dinner bowl, Henniepops runs in excited circles.

Sarah shared: “Hens are fighters, and what we mean by that is that they want to live and make the most of every day, which Henniepops does.”

Suffering

PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen added: “Even though her early life was filled with suffering, Henniepops’ adventurous, curious spirit endured.

“All the courageous, resilient chickens in PETA’s competition are intelligent beings who value companionship and their own lives – and have formed unbreakable bonds with their loving guardians.”

The winning chicken will receive toys and treats – and the winner’s guardian will receive a prize pack that includes a T-shirt, a vegan cookbook, and more (plus bragging rights, of course).

PETA will choose the winner based on several factors, including vote count.

Environmental concerns

Chickens can recognise the faces of more than 100 other chickens; communicate with at least 24 unique vocalisations; establish complex social hierarchies; and roost together companionably.

Yet PETA say that many chickens killed for their flesh are crammed into filthy sheds, where they’re forced to live in their own waste – and the runoff from these operations pollutes the environment and poisons local wildlife – as is happening currently in rivers such as the River Wye.

English and Welsh governments announced £1m in funding to investigate the devastating pollution of the Wye, where around 23m chickens are being produced in the river catchment at any one time.

The health of the river, which flows for 155 miles from mid-Wales to the Severn estuary, has been downgraded by Natural England from “unfavourable-improving” to “unfavourable-declining”, meaning its condition is poor and worsening.

Its decline has been linked to intensive chicken farming in the catchment from the spreading of poultry manure, which contains high levels of phosphate, on to fields, which then leaches into the river.

For more information, visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA UK on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.