Thieves ruffle feathers as show hens targeted

A number of pedigree hens were stolen within a radius of five miles leaving disappointment for owners - including in one case a 12-year-old boy who kept the rare breeds as a hobby.

Three premises were targeted at Ballyveely Road near Cloughmills; Pharis Road at Loughgiel and the Cochrane’s at Coolkeeran Road near Armoy and there were unconfirmed reports other henhouses may have been targeted but the thieves were scared off by barking dogs.

In the light of the raids it is understood a number of hen owners are on high alert this week in case the hen thieves strike again.

It is understood rare breed hens can reach individual prices of several hundred pounds and pedigree birds are much sought after.

Show hens are bought and sold at poultry fairs and last week, Paddy Cochrane and his 12-year-old son, along with the teenager whose birds were stolen in Loughgiel, made a 130-mile round trip to a fair in Dungannon to see if the thieves brought the birds there to sell them on.

Even though the birds have no tags on them bird owners are able to tell what their individual birds look like but Paddy says there was no sign of his son’s hens.

It is believed a handful of youngsters in the general Armoy area keep such hens as a hobby which entails them feeding them early in the morning before going to school and also ensuring they are all brought safely in at night to keep them safe from prowling foxes.

But it was no fox which took the hens in the three raids locally which has seen police get involved.

Police reported thieves have stolen a number of pedigree hens from huts at Coolkeeran Road including 3 ‘Mirran’ hens, a ‘Mirran’ Rooster, 4 ‘Rhode Island Red’ hens, 3 ‘Leghorns’ 2 ‘Sussex’, and 6 plain brown hens.

The Cochrane’s discovered the theft which occurred overnight on Thursday night January 14.

In a similar incident which occurred during the same period, a ‘Leghorn Sussex’ cross hen, a ‘Rhode Island Red’ chick, 7 ‘Light Sussex’ chicks, a show bred ‘Silky’ hen, a ‘Pekion’ rooster, and a female duck were also stolen from a purpose built enclosure at Pharis Road.

At Ballymoney PSNI Station on Monday, Sergeant David Moore gave the Times details of a similar theft at Ballyveely Road.

He said police were linking the three thefts and said it was apparent that the thieves deliberately targeted show hens and had knowledge of where they would be.

Sergeant Moore said the value of the hens stolen in the three raids could be over 750.

“We believe these thefts may have been carried out by someone who has some knowledge of breeding hens and that they could have been stolen for breeding purposes, to sell on or to enter in shows.”

Paddy Cochrane, meanwhile, told us his 12-year-old was disappointed after the birds were stolen.

Paddy said: “My young boy has been keeping the birds for about three or four years and a young boy keeps them at Pharis Road as well and he had birds stolen too.

“My young boy liked them because there was a different assortment of rare breed birds and kept them as a hobby and he sold the eggs to make some pocket money.

“There is a crowd of young boys aged from around eight years and up who have an interest in them. My young boy was left wondering why somebody would steel the hens and whether they would kill them and eat them. This was just the wee-un’s hobby and he was doing nobody any harm.

“He had just two birds left and this whole thing has knocked him for six and know he doesn’t want to keep them anymore and has offered them to somebody else,” added Paddy.

Witnesses to the thefts or anyone who can help to recover the stolen birds are asked to contact the police at Coleraine on 08456008000, email [email protected] or, alternatively, information about crime can be passed anonymously to the Crimestoppers charity by calling 0800555111.