Chickens

I have homed and nursed numerous animals in need for over 20 years. I have had swans in the shower cubicle, terrapins in the bath, squirrels in my socks, sheep in the sitting room, seagulls in the utility room, owls, hedgehogs, badgers, foxes, pigeons and chickens. Sadly until the recent chickens I wasn’t into photography so don’t have a record of the others.

The first chicken I photographed is called Eliza, owned by a friend who brought her to me collapsed with a very swollen, infected face. She needed 24-hour intensive nursing for many weeks. She made a full recovery bar the sight in one eye; and became my first chicken model.

I have also photographed two other chickens, one had been attacked by a dog and had quite severe injuries and the other was found walking down a residential street, featherless, emaciated and full of parasites. The owner could not be found.

Photographing chickens is not easy. They are impossible to direct and not enormously impressed by bribes: and definitely non- responsive to any pleas from me. You have to accept they will poo whenever and where ever they want. They have also been known to lay eggs behind and on my sofa, while others play “can we get around the lounge without touching the floor”.