A group of veterinary students in Glasgow helped take care of checking saved from slaughter by a UK animal charity.
The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT) has hosted a rehoming day in Denny, where hundreds of chickens were adopted and given loving retirement homes after being rescued.
The University of Glasgow students volunteered on the day, earning experience on the field.
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First-year vet student Cameron Clark, who organised the volunteering trip, said: “It was a great opportunity to not only help with the re-homing but also get hands-on with the birds because at vet school we get little opportunity when it comes to handling poultry.
“Plus, all the people there were so knowledgeable about chickens and husbandry that it was great to talk all things chicken with them.
“I would love to go on and specialise in poultry or avian medicine. I’ve had hens since I was nine-years-old, and I was given a few to start off with; I’ve been fascinated ever since.”
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The charity saves some 60,000 hens from slaughter every year and holds regular rehoming days across the UK to rehome the chickens as pets.
Cameron, 18, who is originally from Glasgow, first got pet hens when he moved to Islay, where his parents run a hotel with enough land for a small flock.
Influenced by his grandfather who is also a keen hen-keeper, Cameron began selling his eggs at school and then via an honesty box at home, regularly attracting a queue of carsa.
Now Cameron is applying for one of six grants worth £3,000 from the BHWT for veterinary students and vet nurses doing research into the welfare of pet chickens.
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Cameron added, “I think grants like this are an amazing opportunity for people to get real hands-on time with birds and do research that will help us to learn so much more about their behaviour and the way they eat and drink.
“It’s a chance to expand specialist knowledge of birds and make connections with lecturers and professors who have knowledge to share but don’t have the opportunity within the curriculum to do so.”
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