I managed to get a half-decent picture of the award and a happy chick so I thought I'd post it here for posterity!

Back in April, thanks to your support,
HENCAM WON THE 'WEIRD AND WONDERFUL' CATEGORY OF THE BEST OF BRIT BLOG AWARDS 07!!!



It still hasn't sunk in - I never win anything - but I'd like to think that we all won this, I count you all as friends and hencam would have stopped a long time ago if it hadn't been for you guys, you make it all worthwhile.

Thanks! *sniff* :)

It's quite funny if you think about it, as the real stars of the site don't even have any idea of their prestigious award - though they might wonder why they've been treat with a huge bunch of grapes later today!

We are absolutely thrilled to tell you that today hencam was BBC Radio 2's Webcam of the Day!

At one point we had nearly 50 people watching the live stream simultaneously - ouch!

Click here to hear what Steve Wright said about us (and thank you Dan for suggesting us in the first place!)

On Saturday I was interviewed by Rob Dunger of BBC Radio Suffolk who was very nice, and it was probably the first interview where I didn't sound like a complete arse!

Unfortunately they don't have a 'listen again' feature so I can't upload the interview as I don't have a copy of it, and I can't remember what I said either (nerves!) so you'll just have to take it from me it was very entertaining and I said lots of witty and intelligent things (ahem!)

Those lovely supporters of hencam, the Telegraph & Newspaper (Bradford's local newspaper) have covered the recent hatchings at hencam with a written article and also a video!

You can read the article here, and watch me make a fool of myself too (feel free to skip viewing!)

This morning I visited the studio's of BCB (Bradford City Broadcasting) and was interviewed live on air!

It was quite nerve-wracking but good fun, and the guys at BCB are nice chaps (and chapesses!)

Unfortunately (or fortunately!) I haven't got a recording of it.

This weekend's edition of the T and A (Saturday April 14th 2007) featured hencam and Lottie the Lamb in particular!

She was featured on the front-page strapline! (click for bigger)


Nearly the whole of page 3 was devoted to her! (click for bigger)


Then when we were driving home tonight, we happened to pass Wilsden Post Office, and Lottie was even used to advertise the weekend edition of the paper!! (click for bigger)


Thanks to the T&A for the great coverage, it's much appreciated as always, and we hope it spread a bit of humour at the silly happenings here!

Thank you to the Guardian (a very serious and sensible paper for intelligent people!) ran a story on pointless websites (mainly covering the 'watch a cheddar mature' site), but they also listed other webcams, and we were mentioned - yay!

You can read the article here

I'm not sure about 'brilliantly boring' and 'the cult of banality' but I can sort of see where they are coming from...!

Anyway, we all know hens are the ultimate stress-buster and it's nice to see the Guardian realising this too :)

Thanks to Ugly Phil and Rachel from the breakfast show, and all at Kerrang! Radio who chose hencam as their "website of the day" and also interviewed me too for the show!

Click to hear me sound like a pillock :)

Thank you to earthcam who made hencam one of their top ten webcams of the week, they are (in their own words) "chosen by EarthCam based on quality of image, uniqueness of content and overall technical achievements in webcam technology" - whoo many thanks for the award! We were listed just below the Olympics!!! :)

Don't forget, the Look North TV hencam spot can be viewed here too!

This article appears on Page 13 of today's T&A (click for bigger)



I would also like to answer Mr Grosvenor's comment in the T&A re: "My criticism was that it does not cost 50p to feed a hen for a day - even feeding grapes won't cost that" - actually there were SEVERAL issues you raised (which I answered in my original email) - you conveniently ignore the ones you cannot defend and cling to the cost of food issue. It's true that hens don't cost much to keep on a day to day basis (in fact it's chicken-feed!), but people know that - they are donating to provide treats and whatever else the hens might need. Do you really consider the public so stupid as to blindly donate to a website willy nilly? Credit them with some intelligence please!

It might be the Yorkshireman in me but I will be damned if I will sit here whilst your website prints completely unjust and potentially libellious drivel regarding what I spend on my hens to give them the best possible care - when you yourselves represent battery and cage hen farmers. My hens are NOT a means of income - they are much loved pets.

The T&A were lucky even getting a response from you, you've conveniently refused to answer mine or anyone elses emails on the subject.

The Telegraph & Argus (Bradford and it's surrounding areas most widely read newspaper) rang me the other day asking if they could do a follow up piece on hencam. They were the first newspaper to feature hencam and started the whole ball rolling, so how could I refuse? They were very interested in SEPRA's hatchet-job on my site - hopefully the article will show the SEPRA people that they cannot make unfounded allegations against an individual or website and then refuse to answer or apologise for their completely incorrect assumptions.

I sent Dennis Surgenor - the "journalist" who wrote the article on hencam a quick courtesy email to let him know what his good work had achieved thus far:

From: neil@hencam.co.uk Reply-To: "neil@hencam.co.uk" To: info@scottisheggs.co.uk Date: 21-Mar-2006 22:35 Subject: FAO: Dennis Surgenor Hello Dennis, I am not sure if you have received my original email and as you are the "journalist" who I believe wrote the drivel regarding my site I thought you should have a chance to see the facts behind hencam and also the negative publicity you have single-handedly created for SEPRA. The Telegraph & Argus - which is Bradford's (and it's surrounding areas') most widely read newspaper - is covering the story regarding your hatchet-job on my site and hopefully this will spark a second wave of media interest - it was the T&A which first covered hencam and from there it snowballed. I honestly cannot understand why an individual or organisation such as yourself/SEPRA would go out of it's way to try and destroy something that was started with the sole purpose of lightening people's days and bringing a bit of fun back to the Internet. Hopefully the bad publicity you are now receiving will make you think twice and enourage you to research your facts more fully in future. Regards Neil

Let's see if he has the decency and courtesy to answer this one...

In the meantime, please feel free to contact him and see if you can get a response. If you feel email just isn't getting the message across, you can phone on +44 (0)1324 715337, or fax: +44 (0)1324 874773. Let me know how you get on!

Egg update: no eggs, they upset the hens :(

The Pulse (West Yorkshire's main commercial radio station) saw the article and emailed me to arrange an interview which I've just got back from. It covered why I thought SEPRA had such a bee in it's bonnet and whether I was going to sue them!! Interestingly, the quote they used was from a question they asked after I'd said that the merchandise was just 'for a laugh' - "how much profit would you make if you sold 50 t-shirts?" and I replied it would be about £15 - they used this which made it sound like the shop had made more than it actually had, although I think their point was that it still wasn't a lot (the final quote from the presenter was "so you won't be buying that ferrari and retiring just yet then")! I tried to record it but the stupid audio recorder cocked up, however it was aired on the 7am, 8am, 9am and 10am news bulletins.

Here are the clips from the BBC Look North news programmes!

The first one is from the lunch-time edition, there was a longer piece on the evening show too!

This morning the hens (and Scarlet and me!) were filmed for a piece which will hopefully be on tonight's BBC Look North programme! I am shocked/bemused/amazed that a silly idea like this can snowball and receive so much attention, but I'm over the moon of course!

Here's a photo of the "shoot".... (Ben the reporter was very nice, I just hope we don't look like complete lunatics...!)



Milly laid an egg too, she's either showing off for the camera or Tilly and Penny are *really* lazy! (year totals: eggs: 9, laid by Milly: 9, laid by lazy good for nothing Tilly and Penny: 0).

Listen to my interview with Jack & Ali at Spin 1038! No sniggering at the back!!

I've also found out we were mentioned on Tuesday's Breakfast show on BBC Radio Lincolnshire, and also on CBC Radio in Canada!!! I'm totally amazed and completely 'flummuxed' by it all!!!

Today it was the turn of very serious national newspaper The Guardian!!

Today Milly, Tilly and Penny were featured in the paper again, this time the Yorkshire Post!!! (click pic for bigger)

The website and hens were on the front page of the Telegraph & Argus!!! I only found out because I had a phone call at work and it was the Yorkshire Post wanting to cover the story, when I asked how they found out they said it was on the front page of the T&A - I was slightly shocked!!! (click images for big version)

Milly, Tilly and Penny make the front page!


Possibly the only time in my life I can honestly say "I was on page 3"...


The hens even featured in the cartoon on the letters page:


Hopefully tomorrow they will be in the Yorkshire Post - more news if and when... :)

The online store is finally properly open! There are tons of weird and wonderful goodies on there from t-shirts to bags to clocks to stickers to mugs to mousemats - you get the idea! If you want something totally unique (nobody has bought one yet!) then have a look and make Tilly, Milly and Penny famous!!

Visit the hencam store now

Thanks Milly :)


Egg-citing things afoot!!!
posted by admin, 17 February 2006 9:52
Expect a big change tomorrow, I plan on getting up early and moving the webcam to a more interesting "hens eye" view. This will mean it's exposed to the elements but I'll try and protect it somehow (not sure yet!)

If the camera doesn't get ruined then it should provide a good view of what's going on. Don't forget that if you have any suggestions on what should be on here, then give me a shout...

Milly has started laying, bless her! We can tell it's her because her eggs are large and creamy/white coloured, and Penny's and Tilly's eggs are browner...

Still no eggs, not really surprising as Tilly and Penny are getting on a bit now (over 3 years old, and modern breeds only really lay for a couple of years - after which they lay the odd egg every now and again) and Milly is 2 years old. The days have started to stay light longer on a night which is nice, so this should trigger their egg laying soon. I will be sure to let you know when they do!

Ok, somebody suggested that it would be more "eggciting" to have more of a chicken's-eye view of the coop, so as long as it isn't chucking it down with rain, I will move the cam in the next few days to an outside location more on their level. It should provide some pretty amusing views (as long as the camera doesn't get busted!) - keep an eye out for more news...

Our hens are still not laying - I think it's due to the shorter days (they need at least 12 hours sunlight) - some hen keepers use artificial light to stimulate egg production all year round but we think it's kinder and certainly more natural to let nature take it's course... When they feel like laying again, they will!