Close to 200 chickens were saved from slaughter by a dedicated volunteer from Eccles over the weekend.

Jaki Hann, of Bull Lane, was part of a rehoming project to find owners for the commercial hens which had got too old to lay eggs on an industrial level.

With the support of her 13-year-old daughter Isobel-Louise, and St Augustine Academy school friend Toni Hallsworth, 170 birds were handed over to new owners on Sunday morning.

Ms Hann, who has been a volunteer for Fresh Start For Hens for one year, said: “Egg layers are considered to be past their best at 72 weeks of age, but they have years of life left in them.

“If they aren’t rehomed they will be slaughtered, but not for human consumption because there’s not a lot of meat in them. It will go into things like dog and cat food.”

The hens were taken from a farm in Welshpool, Wales, by national co-ordinator Taz Kenward on Saturday.

They were supposed to be handed over that evening but car problems meant the operation did not go smoothly.

Mrs Kenward’s hire van began to overheat in slow moving traffic on the M25 at 2.30am. It forced her to pull over onto the hard shoulder with 300 hens on board.

Eventually the engine cooled and Mrs Kenward met with Ms Hann in Oxted at around 5am to hand over her allocation of hens.

Ms Hann then started to sell the chickens to new homes for £2.50, working on just an hour’s sleep.

Isobel-Louise helped set up the run and made sure the area was safe before they arrived.

She said: “I really like doing this. I love watching the hens drink proper water. They bob their heads a bit because they’re used to getting it from a drip.

“It’s really satisfying to make their lives better.”

Fresh Start For Hens is entirely voluntary and works closely with farmers.

Another rehoming event is planned for Saturday, September 27.