Algy the second has sent me another tall story. Apparently, as previously written, he grew up with his sister, Annie in a Castle. This was until their father, Algy the first, died. Their father was a successful industrialist and an original thinker.

Algy the first set up a modern farm set up at the Castle, which produced milk and eggs, amongst other farm products. The eggs were produced by hens kept in, what was known in the 1950’s, as a “battery”- thus “battery hens” was how they were described. This caused a revolution in egg production at the time. The hens were in very small cages stacked high; around six thousand hens could be crammed into a relatively small shed this way. See the photo above.

Algy and his sister felt sorry for the hens. There was a clever counting system attached to the cages, the farmer would know which hens had not laid by moving a clip manually along the rack just visible. Five days of no laying and the hen was killed. Algy and his sister would move the clips back to extend the life of the hens.. Some hens were allowed out for a short time, to recuperate their laying powers. If it was blowing a gale it was surprising how far they could fly when launched into the air from the top of a hill.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

Tall Story Teller