Welcome to Hettie the Hen’s page!  

You may remember that Freedom Food and the RSPCA in association with Hamleys the toy store launched a competition to find one special person to help Hettie the hen find her own character in order to let everyone know why they should choose higher welfare eggs.

After careful consideration our winning entry was chosen and that winner is:

James Watson-Gandy, 9, London

James drew inspiration from his granny who used to have a farm. He remembers observing the hens and how they liked the space they were given to peck and explore.  The prize included meeting our animators to help bring the character of Hettie to life. James inspired our team by saying that ‘’Hettie should be brave, adventurous and funny’’. The final part of the prize was to star in the short animation alongside her.

We already know that Hettie is a lucky hen. She lays her eggs on a free-range farm that’s been checked and approved by the RSPCA’s farm assurance scheme, Freedom Food. She also knows that lots of hens are not so lucky – because about half of the UK’s hens still live in battery cages. That’s around 17 million hens that live in wire cages, unable to move about and exercise freely or do many of the other things that hens like to do.

So please share this animation with your friends and family and inspire a little change that can make a big difference to welfare.