THEY provide the happy ending which has so far saved thousands of hens from slaughter.

Fi McGravie and Jackie Balfour set up Wing and a Prayer Rescue in September 2012 to rehome ex-commercial laying hens as gardens pets once they come to the end of their working lives.

Now the two women, who both live near Edinburgh, are preparing for their next big operation when a "good few hundred" hens bred for egg production will be rescued - bringing the total number of birds rehomed to around 7,500 since the charity was founded.

Around 300 potential new homes have already been identified for the birds, after the charity advertised on Facebook, and the hens - which have normally lived in cages in huge farm sheds - will be taken on as pets by animal-lovers from around Scotland.

Hens are often sent to the slaughter, after which they are turned into pet food, paste or soup, once they reach around 18 months old and go into a natural moult, losing some of their feathers. This causes a drop in egg production, meaning they are of less commercial value, even although they will resume laying later.

Ms McGravie, 41, said: "That's when we step in. We offer the famers money for the hens, but often farmers are just delighted they are not going to have to be killed. Part of the agreement is we never divulge details of the farm.

"We go and crate up the birds and take them back what we call our henquarters on the farm Jackie lives on near Balerno. We then start to distribute them to new homes around Scotland where they are kept sometimes five, six years as pets."

Ms McGravie, 41, said their biggest rescue to date involved 900 hens.

The former nurse keeps 13 herself in her large garden in Currie, along a 13-year-old Lurcher called Colin.

She met Ms Balfour by chance online on a hen website forum. "It just so happens she lives along the road and we got talking about our shared dream of running a rescue," she said. "So we did it.

"In August 2014, we were granted charitable status which was a huge achievement for us. We are currently the only registered Scottish charity rescuing ex-commercial hens in Scotland."

They now also have collection points in Inverness, Fife, Lanarkshire, Hawick, Coupar Angus and Dunbar.

They vet any potential rehomers before offering them hens and never hand over less than three so they have company. Once approved they ask new owners to agree to terms and conditions which include that the hens are not killed, sold or used for egg production in the future.

Ms Balfour, 56, said: "We offer a lifetime of support for owners and we are always on hand to offer help and advice should they need it. Should any of our rehomers need to return their hens for any reason, we will happily take them back.

"We are funded entirely by ourselves and our volunteers, from our own pockets and by small fundraising activities. We do not gain financially from our rescues."

Sometimes they receive hens that have been injured during their time in the cages with fractures or spinal injuries or various long-term illnesses and conditions. These hens are never rehomed to members of the public.

"We are fortunate to work closely with The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, so they receive treatment there and are rehomed to our most experienced volunteers who nurse them back to health and they then stay with them forever," Ms Balfour said.

Cockerels can be more problematic as they cannot usually be kept together in a group and can be pretty noisy. "But we do still try to find them a loving home," Ms McGravie added.