Warwickshire-based Jenna Jack has ditched her high heels for wellies and given up her high powered business career to launch a ‘good life’ business project rearing and selling 200 hens each month to the public. On the first anniversary of her ‘good life’ business venture Jenna will be exhibiting in the Small Holders’ Marquee at this year’s Edible Garden Show.
One year on she couldn’t be happier with her transformation from high-powered business professional to “country bumpkin” and is celebrating the first anniversary of her company, ‘The Warwickshire Chicken Coop’, at The Edible Garden Show, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire from 15-17 March.
Jenna, who sells around 200 hens a month to members of the public from her base in Ettington near Stratford-Upon-Avon, will be taking dozens of her pure breed and hybrid hens along to the show – the only national event dedicated to ‘grow-your-own’.
Jenna says: “We sell our hens to people from all walks of life throughout Warwickshire and the surrounding counties. Sometimes they are in their early 30s like me and they want to keep a few chickens as pets, and for the eggs of course, others are families or grandparents who buy for themselves or for their grandchildren. There is a real mixture of people.”
For Jenna, her new life couldn’t be further from her busy marketing career but she has no regrets about swapping the business suits for jeans and working outside. She says: “I’m very happy living as a country bumpkin. I wanted to step out of my busy marketing career and into a profession which explores ‘the good life’ and self-sufficiency.
“I sometimes miss human company and having a conversation about TV by the coffee machine but I love the outdoor life. My partner Jonathan is a farm manager and much more interested in cows and sheep but he is very supportive of my business”.
“I have always been an animal person and have kept chickens for a number of years now and find them so easy to keep and look after. They are a fantastic source of amusement – and, of course, fresh eggs! I wanted to combine my business knowledge with doing something I loved and Warwickshire Chicken Coop was born.”
The trend for keeping chickens has grown over 800% in the past few years and continues to grow.
The desire for self sufficiency and the ease of looking after chickens has contributed to the boom. Warwickshire Chicken Coop sells ‘everything you need to be friends with your hens’ including health, husbandry and hygiene products as well as a range of feed, treats and accessories and the popular Omlet housing.
The business is the only operation of its kind in Warwickshire that offers a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about keeping chickens.
Jenna is devoted to the welfare and happiness of her hens and says: “All our chickens go through a thorough vaccination programme before they are sold on. We are so confident in the health of our hens that every bird comes with a guarantee and a lifetime of advice. There is nothing more important to us than the health and happiness of our chickens”
Jenna will be selling her hens in the Smallholder Marquee at The Edible Garden Show.
The event is bursting with fabulous exhibitors, innovative products, chickens, goats and pigs, tasty cookery demonstrations and dynamic talks from a panel of celebrity experts including award winning TV presenter James Wong, Gardeners’ Question Time panellist Bob Flowerdew and author and TV presenter Alys Fowler.
Tickets are £12 in advance (£15 on the door) with concessions for seniors and children. Call the ticket hotline on 0844 338 8001 or visit www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk
Find out more
Edible Garden Show – The ultimate grow your own event
Warwickshire Chicken Coop