Horses and hens could be a “match made in heaven”, it has been suggested, and could bring benefits to all parties.
The British Hen Welfare Trust, a charity that rehomes commercial egg-laying chickens, said hens are “the perfect buddies for horses”, as well as being “excellent companions for humans”.
“Aesthetically speaking, horses and chickens may strike you as a bit of a mismatched pairing,” a spokesman for the trust said. “The sheer difference in size is enough to make you wonder just how harmonious domestic life would be with a blended family of four- and two-legged friends. In fact, hens and horses make excellent bedfellows – quite literally.”
The spokesman said that chickens’ instincts to peck, forage and spread means they “don’t just look cute perched on top of a pony, they bring myriad benefits to your stables”.
She said hens’ love of scrabbling in the dirt means they will find and eat every stray piece of dropped feed.
“Rest assured, a hen on a mission will find every last bit of food – meaning less waste. In addition, as your hens hoover up the titbits, your horse will be less inclined to mouth the ground in search of food, which can lead to them ingesting harmful [sand]. As if that weren’t enough, the reduction in food waste will lead to less pesky flies and rats hanging around too.”
The trust believes hens can also save horse owners a job – or possibly create one.
“We cannot express just how much a hen enjoys a good old pile,” she said. “Whether it’s hay, manure, leaves or soil, place a pile near your chickens and they’ll have it spread quicker than you can say ‘pass the pitchfork’. Poultry adore playing in piles of manure – they’ll scratch and paw, turning it with their feet until it’s evenly spread about. Which not only provides them with much needed enrichment but it saves you a task.”
The spokesman added that hens are low-maintenance, and of course, can provide eggs in return for their care.
“As with all fledgling relationships, it’s important to be aware of any potential pitfalls; fortunately, these are few and far between with horses and hens,” she said, adding that the key is keeping chickens’ food away from horses, and setting up a roosting area that does not allow hen droppings to contaminate equine feed, forage – or the horses and their equipment.
“And there you have it – the recipe for domestic harmony between the most unlikely of couplings,” she said.
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