A RETIRED Exmoor special educational needs teacher is taking on the Exmoor Perambulation challenge at the weekend to help re-homed hens.

Sonia Watters, who adopted four hens from the British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT), will walk the 30 miles with her son Jack after falling in love with their cheeky flock of re-homed hens.

Ms Watters named the hens Lizzie, Polly, Ada, and Esme after the female characters in the television series ‘Peaky Blinders’, and collectively calls them the ‘Pecky Blinders’.

She said: “They are very cheeky characters and very curious and nosey.

“Cleaning them out is very challenging as they always want to get involved.”

Now, Ms Watters and Jack are preparing to take part in the perambulation of the historic route following the boundary of the ancient Royal Forest of Exmoor on Saturday (June 20).

It is one of the area’s most historic walking events, following a route linked to the ancient bounds of Exmoor Forest.

For Ms Watters, who lives nearby, the challenge offers a rare opportunity to see parts of the landscape usually closed to the public.

Ms Watters said: “The walk is very interesting to us as we live on the edge of Exmoor, but this gives us the ability to walk through areas of private land that you would not normally see.

“It follows the bounds of the ancient Exmoor forest that existed hundreds of years ago.”

She has previously supported charities including Dogs Trust, the Injured Jockeys Fund, and the RSPCA, but said BHWT felt like the right charity to support this time.

Ms Watters said: “I just felt it was appropriate to do this charity as I have enjoyed the company of my new hens so much.”

She has set up a GoFundMe page for donations and has already almost reached her target of £400.

Ms Watters said: “Any donation will help make an impact.

“Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

“I myself have re-homed hens from this wonderful charity who are my pride and joy, and I can highly praise everything they do.”

The trust, based close to Exmoor in South Molton, is a national charity which re-homes ex-commercial laying hens and gives them an opportunity to enjoy life as much-loved pets.

The charity has re-homed more than a million hens since it was founded in 2005.

The trust’s Andy Hill said: “We absolutely love Sonia’s story, not least because Lizzie, Polly, Ada, and Esme sound like exactly the sort of mischievous little characters that make people fall completely in love with re-homed hens.

“Taking on a 30-mile walk across Exmoor is a brilliant challenge, and we are so grateful to Sonia and her son for choosing to raise funds for the BHWT.

“Every donation helps more hens get the happy free-range retirement they deserve.”

The charity aims to encourage consumers and food manufacturers to buy only UK produced free-range eggs, resulting in a strong British egg industry where all commercial laying hens enjoy a good quality life.