About Us
Our courses are run by Lesley Austin, who has had many years experience of keeping chickens since she was a child living on a farm in Yorkshire .jpg)
I started keeping chickens when I was a little girl. I loved their characters and would care for them if they were poorly. One hen called Matilda was savaged by a fox and I nursed her back to health, she used to sit on my lap on the swing and fall asleep.
Since then I have loved keeping hens and currently have 14 'girls' some disabled, some rescued and some that I have bred myself. I also have a cute bantam cockerel called Fiddy-Cent who loves a cuddle. I have just bought a trio of tiny Dutch Bantams, Robert, Dorothy and Doris and they are settling in nicely in their Eglu, the funky hen house from Omlet.
I have worked in various veterinary practices since 1992 and have nursed many little pets and creatures back to good health. I currently work part-time at Smith, Ryder-Davies vets in Ipswich and dearly love my job.
I am also a support coordinator for the Battery Hen Welfare Trust, logging calls from potential rehomers, which is very rewarding.
I help at the Battery hen rescues in Essex and come home very tired, usually covered in chicken poo but feel great satisfaction that lots of these dear little creatures are now going to have the life they so deserve!
I love all animals and in the past was one of the top breeders of Rex guinea pigs, travelling all over the country showing the pigs and winning many awards. I also hand reared a Macaw parrot called Cracker, had bearded dragon lizards and four dogs, two cavalier king charles spaniels, a whippet and yorkie. Animals are my life and I could not imagine life without them!.