How this chicken is living her best life

By Kate Pounds via SWNS

An ex-battery hen is living her best life after being rescued - and now goes surfing, on camping trips and loves having her feathers blowdried.

Wendy, is a brown chicken, moved in with Lauren Williams, 43, and her husband, Matt, 44, a nurse, in February 2022 and has been treated like a princess ever since.

The couple got the hen from a contact who rescues battery hens before they are slaughtered and Wendy arrived with a damaged leg and no tail.

But she is now ruling the roost at Lauren and Matt's home in Perth, Australia - where she hops to the fridge when she fancies being handfed blueberries or grapes.

Wendy lives indoors with the pair and they take her out on day trips - carrying her around in a sling or pushing her in a pram if the weather's hot.

They take Wendy on camping holidays and she's even had a go at surfing when Lauren popped her on a board during a day at the beach.

Lauren, a bookkeeper and pet sitter, said: "She's just so lovely.

"Matt and I spoil her completely: we're so devoted to her.

"Everybody loves her so much - she just touches so many hearts.

"She does everything with us.

"If we're in another room and away from her too long she calls to us and starts hopping along to find us if we don't come to her fast enough.

"She's very adventurous, I think she'd try anything if we're there with her.

"She panics if she's not with us.

"We can't imagine life without her - we have to make as many memories as possible now.

"We're trying to cram as much into her life as possible.

"Chickens are so much fun - I'd love for people to see them as more than layers."

Lauren and Matt have nine hens - most of them rescued from battery farms like Wendy.

The animal lovers found a little house at the end of the garden when they moved into their home in 2019 and realized it was perfect for chickens.

Wendy had lived with the other hens but got very attached to Lauren and Matt when she stayed in their home when she got a cough a year-and-a-half ago - and has since refused to move back outside.

Wendy - who is about four years old - was rescued by Battery Angels Chicken Rescue, before being rehomed with Lauren and Matt.

Lauren said: "Battery hens are slaughtered at 18 months because the laying slows down.

"The rescuers buy them before they are slaughtered, but they often only live a couple of months.

"Chicken welfare is the lowest of all the farm animals and it's so sad - they are just brilliant and all have their individual personalities."

Wendy is toilet trained - going out in the garden in the morning then not in the house.

When she wants fruit she goes to the fridge and calls until Lauren or Matt come and open it for her.

Wendy's leg was broken and left untreated so healed wonky when she was at the battery farm, Lauren claims.

She has no tail due to a genetic condition.

Lauren and Matt give Wendy a bath and blow dry every fortnight - and Lauren says she loves it - because the hen's preening gland is missing too.

"She's so cute", said Lauren.

"Like a little hopping football, and she falls asleep when she's being blowdried.

"She gets along very well, and she's very fast, especially if there are grapes and blueberries to eat.

"She loves to sit on our laps and she goes to sleep when we stroke her."

Wendy travels in a cat crate strapped into the couple's car, and they make regular stops for her to scratch around on the roadside.

She's spent nights snuck into motels, and stays with Lauren and Matt on camping sites. She also loves visiting markets, cafés, lakes, and the beach.

Lauren popped Wendy on a surf board and pulled it through the water on holiday in Denmark, Western Australia, in February.

And Wendy enjoyed a holiday in Cue, Western Australia, last July too.

On a caravan trip to a farm she made friends with the farm chickens and also the dogs.

Nearer home, Wendy loves going to Bunnings, a hardware store, where she gets ferried around in a little trolley.

She's even modelled in a fashion show, with Lauren, at the Perth Vegan Expo and Wendy has ridden a pony, called Thumper.

Lauren said: "We can't leave her - she's a house chicken.

"I just snuggle her up on my front in the sling - she loves it.

"She goes in the pram for summer, I even took her on a train like that to get to her radio interview.

"Animals aren't allowed on public transport in Australia so I had to smuggle her on under a blanket: she was a very good girl and didn't make any noise.

"People love her - they just come and cuddle her.

"She lets me know when she's had enough and we go and find somewhere quiet.

"At the fashion show people recognised her and they were just screaming.

"Her Facebook page, Wendy Chicken, is very popular.

"She's a celebrity and we're basically her managers."