Millionth hen rehomed to live at King's residence

A special chicken carrier was designed by Lulu Guinness to take Henrietta to the royal roost

The one millionth hen rescued by the British Hen Welfare Trust has been rehomed to royal residence Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.

Henrietta and 30 other chickens were adopted by King Charles III in January and have now moved into their new home.

Jane Howorth, founder and CEO of the charity which is based in South Molton, Devon, said she "never expected" to rehome the millionth hen in her lifetime.

The hen was transported to Highgrove in a special chicken carrier called 'Hengrove', made by fashion designer Lulu Guinness.

Jane Howorth has a coop of rescue chickens in her own garden

The British Hen Welfare Trust has been running for 20 years.

The chickens are rescued from factory farms with about 60,000 rehomed each year to places including people's gardens, schools and prisons.

Ms Howorth told BBC Devon "they are just like cats and dogs with feathers" and that they make wonderful pets.

"All you need is a chicken coop, which could be a converted garden shed, and some security so that they are safe from predators."

She said the charity had grown far more than she expected when starting out.

"Helping a lorry load of 4,000 was my original target and we’ve exceeded my expectations by some margin. To think that so many hens have had a happy retirement gives me a great deal of pleasure as I’m sure it has for all the kind-hearted British supporters who’ve taken these deserving little creatures into their homes and hearts."

Highgrove is the private residence of King Charles and Queen Camilla, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire.