HUNDREDS of hard working battery hens are looking for new homes across Wiltshire after volunteers from the British Hen Welfare Trust saved them from going to the slaughterhouse.

The hens, which have been rescued from a farm somewhere in the country, will be rehomed to willing volunteers in Hinton Parva for a small donation on Saturday, November 26.

"We will have a team of volunteers who will go down to the farm on Saturday where we have been given permission to come and take some of the hens to save them from going to slaughter," Francesca Taffs, communications and marketing officer of the British Hen Welfare Trust, explained.

"Sometimes there is a set number but we think we will take about 300 hens and a series of people who have registered their interest can come and pick them up. They make really great pets and people have described them as feathered cats and dogs. They are really sociable and intelligent animals - much more than we give them credit for!

Anyone interested in adopting some of the battery hens should register with the British Hen Welfare Trust online on www.bhwt.org.uk or call 01884 860084.