Poultry breeders praise flood support as donated equipment arrives

Flooded pure breeds keepers, Bryony and Gavin Sadler from Somerset, have taken delivery of replacement housing and equipment for their birds, thanks to the Poultry Club of Great Britain’s flood support helpline.

The plight of the Sadlers, who along with their two young children and 100 chickens had to evacuate their flooded home on the Somerset Levels in February, was highlighted in the March edition of Poultry World.

Although the Sadlers managed to rescue their poultry, most of which are fostered out to friends around the county, all the housing and equipment was smashed and washed away in the floods.

Mrs Sadler therefore contacted the PCGB helpline and an offer of help came from Michaela Thurland in north Wales, who had some spare poultry housing.

Arrangements were made for Edge Transport of Wrexham to collect the coops and deliver them to the Palletline hub, from where Framptons Transport Services delivered them to their destination in Somerset.

Mrs Thurland said: “I power-washed and sprayed the housing and moved it to the roadside for easy collection. I just hope it will be useful for Bryony and Gavin, who have lost so much.”

On receipt of the delivery, Mr Sadler said that peoples’ generosity had “blown our minds”, providing sufficient housing for the chickens still on site.

Janice Houghton-Wallace, who runs the PCGB helpline, added: “At times like this people can feel very much alone and we didn’t want poultry keepers to feel we were ignoring them. Quite often it is the little things that keep you going and give you the strength to cope.”