....prompts garden centre to sell them for ?25
~~~~ me tescos owns this company as well.
A few herb plants and a packet of tomato seeds used to be the main culinary produce you would expect to buy at garden centres.
But now one chain is cashing in on the 'grow your own' boom and branching out from the vegetable to the animal.
Dobbies has begun selling hens for those who like their eggs as fresh as possible.
Top seller: Hens have been a popular purchase as suburban families try to live more self-sufficiently
The company says the move has been driven by the growing numbers looking to live the 'Good Life' - a reference to the 1970s sitcom about a suburban couple leading a self-sufficient lifestyle.
Dobbies, which is owned by Tesco, said chicken coops are among its top 20 best-selling items in recent months. The firm therefore decided to sell birds to go in them.
The hens sold by Dobbies will each cost between ?25 and ?30. However, they will pay for themselves with the fresh eggs they lay - providing they are not snatched by foxes, a fate that befalls many of their country cousins.
And they will also happily feed on kitchen scraps, boosting their environmentally friendly credentials.
Much to the relief of neighbours of the suburban farmers, the hens will not need the help of a cockerel to produce their eggs.
The firm insists customers buy a minimum of two hens, but it suggests four to six is a better option. These would lay 20 to 30 eggs a week.
The firm's buying director, Susan MacDonald, said: 'Over the past two years, more and more Brits have started growing their own fruit and vegetables and the next step in the consumer return to the "Good Life" seems to be growing their own eggs.
'Families definitely seem to be turning their back gardens into cocoons for self-sufficiency.'
A trial in six stores proved an 'overwhelming hit', encouraging Dobbies to sell hens at 15 of its 29 garden centres in England and Scotland.
The chicken breeds on sale will include Isa Brown, Light Sussex, Corder Valley Rangers, Bluebells, and Black Rocks.
In May, the chain saw a 27 per cent increase in sales of grow-yourown fruit and vegetables compared with the same month last year.
'This provides further evidence that the major trend in self-sufficiency over the past couple of years looks set to stay,' a spokesman said. The boom in home-grown produce has been fuelled in part by families looking for savings during the credit crunch, but also as a backlash against big supermarkets and processed food.
Celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay have encouraged farming pigs, sheep and chicken for the table.
Dobbies offers a guide on feeding and looking after the hens.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0qQlTD21Z
~~~~ me tescos owns this company as well.
A few herb plants and a packet of tomato seeds used to be the main culinary produce you would expect to buy at garden centres.
But now one chain is cashing in on the 'grow your own' boom and branching out from the vegetable to the animal.
Dobbies has begun selling hens for those who like their eggs as fresh as possible.
Top seller: Hens have been a popular purchase as suburban families try to live more self-sufficientlyThe company says the move has been driven by the growing numbers looking to live the 'Good Life' - a reference to the 1970s sitcom about a suburban couple leading a self-sufficient lifestyle.
Dobbies, which is owned by Tesco, said chicken coops are among its top 20 best-selling items in recent months. The firm therefore decided to sell birds to go in them.
The hens sold by Dobbies will each cost between ?25 and ?30. However, they will pay for themselves with the fresh eggs they lay - providing they are not snatched by foxes, a fate that befalls many of their country cousins.
And they will also happily feed on kitchen scraps, boosting their environmentally friendly credentials.
Much to the relief of neighbours of the suburban farmers, the hens will not need the help of a cockerel to produce their eggs.
The firm insists customers buy a minimum of two hens, but it suggests four to six is a better option. These would lay 20 to 30 eggs a week.
The firm's buying director, Susan MacDonald, said: 'Over the past two years, more and more Brits have started growing their own fruit and vegetables and the next step in the consumer return to the "Good Life" seems to be growing their own eggs.
'Families definitely seem to be turning their back gardens into cocoons for self-sufficiency.'
A trial in six stores proved an 'overwhelming hit', encouraging Dobbies to sell hens at 15 of its 29 garden centres in England and Scotland.
The chicken breeds on sale will include Isa Brown, Light Sussex, Corder Valley Rangers, Bluebells, and Black Rocks.
In May, the chain saw a 27 per cent increase in sales of grow-yourown fruit and vegetables compared with the same month last year.
'This provides further evidence that the major trend in self-sufficiency over the past couple of years looks set to stay,' a spokesman said. The boom in home-grown produce has been fuelled in part by families looking for savings during the credit crunch, but also as a backlash against big supermarkets and processed food.
Celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay have encouraged farming pigs, sheep and chicken for the table.
Dobbies offers a guide on feeding and looking after the hens.
----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0qQlTD21Z
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