Rescued chickens follow Jonathan Branton-Casey across a paddock.
Jonathan Branton-Casey lives on a large lifestyle block near Swannanoa in North Canterbury and is known locally as "the chicken man".
He buys unwanted layer hens from commercial farms and on-sells them to people who want a few egg laying chooks.
So far he has rescued about 40,000 chickens that would normally be culled for manure, compost or pet food after their first laying season, when they produce the most eggs.
Branton-Casey believes the demand for egg laying chooks has risen drastically in the last few years.
“I think there’s a movement with people wanting to know where there food comes from and so the simplest thing to do is have hens in your backyard and collect eggs every morning”.
