unfamiliar openness around them. up around chickens overseas and
By the following morning, wanting her children to experience adopters were arriving steadily the same connection to animals throughout the day. Most were already experienced chicken keep- laughing, that they had first be-
and outdoor life. Several admitted,
ers, arriving with thoughtfully prepared crates and well-established for the eggs, only to discover how
come interested in backyard hens
backyard flocks waiting at home. attached they had become to the Some came from neighboring birds themselves. And that is often towns within Montgomery County, while others drove from farther Spend a little time around
how it happens. corners of Maryland. chickens, and their individual personalities begin to emerge:
Many carried stories with them, too. One woman told me she the bold hen who always investigates first, the shy one who hangs had spent weeks building a coop by hand with her teenage son. Another adopter described growing plains loudly whenever routines
back, the dramatic one who com-
The HenPals team includes, from the left, Brian Bak, Abby Johnson, Judy Johnson, Melissa Shifler, Nathan Eisenlohr, and Katie Eisenlohr.
PHOTO: jessica barnett
Get Involved with HenPals Network
HenPals Network holds monthly rehoming events throughout the year, placing former commercial laying hens into backyard homes across Maryland and the surrounding region. Those interested in adopting can register through our website and join the waitlist for upcoming placements. Readers can also sign up to volunteer or support the work at www. henpals. org. change, the social one who follows you wherever you go. Hens recognize familiar people. They form social bonds. They seek comfort from one another.
Most of all, they seem to take visible pleasure in ordinary things.
There is something quietly moving about watching an animal encounter ordinary pleasures for the first time. A dust bath. A patch of sunlight. The taste of an insect after scratching freely through the earth. These moments are small, but they feel meaningful precisely because they are so ordinary— small freedoms arriving late, but not too late.
One of our volunteers laughed recently while describing a hen discovering a worm during her first afternoon outdoors.“ You would have thought she’ d won the lottery,” she told me.
The hens themselves change quickly once they settle into backyard life. Within hours, many begin sunbathing with wings stretched wide in the grass or dust bathing in shallow hollows they’ ve dug themselves. Feathers often grow back glossy and full. Nervous birds become curious— and even cuddly.
But the adopters change, too. Within hours of our first rehoming event, my phone filled with messages and photographs from adopters introducing us to newly named hens, sharing stories of first dust baths, triumphant discoveries of garden bugs and first eggs gathered.
One adopter wrote,“ I thought I was rescuing chickens, but honestly, I think they’ re helping me just as much.”
Another described sitting outside after work each evening simply watching her hens forage quietly around the yard.“ I haven’ t slowed
42 plenty I summer growing 2026