Marie Antoinette used to feed her chickens from porcelain buckets at Versailles. No wonder she ruffled feathers. Fast forward 200 years ...
Marie Antoinette used to feed her chickens from porcelain buckets at Versailles. No wonder she ruffled feathers.
Fast forward 200 years or so, and the rich and famous are again potty about poultry. As status symbols go, keeping chickens may not be as flashy as a garage of supercars or a wardrobe of designer clothes. But as is the case with celebrity trends, it’s all about who’s top of the pecking order.
Earlier this week, Samantha Cameron posted pictures of her husband struggling to construct a chicken coop in their Cotswolds garden. David, assembled the Eglu, costing around £950, with the help of his daughter Nancy.
Everyone who is anyone keeps chickens — and the bigger the coop, the better. Prince Charles has a 17ft-high hen house, known as Cluckingham Palace, that’s modelled on a Saxon steeple.
Whether you’re a prince or a pop star, nothing squawks celebrity lockdown better than a fresh supply of eggs. So who’s winning this game of one-cluckmanship? And who’s left with egg on their face? ALISON BOSHOFF reports…
Earlier this week, Samantha Cameron posted pictures of her husband struggling to construct a chicken coop in their Cotswolds garden
Geri Halliwell's romeo rooster
One of Geri Halliwell's chickens is named Ginger, after her Spice Girls alter ego
Geri Halliwell lives the Aga and wellies life at her country house in the Cotswolds with husband Christian Horner.
They have goats, three miniature donkeys, and chickens, including one named Ginger, after her Spice Girl alter ego, and Usain Bolt.
Geri explained: ‘Do you remember when Usain Bolt was seen going into a hotel room with ten women going after him?
‘Well, this cockerel has a lot of girlfriends.’
A lead role for Jennifer Garner's birds
One of Jennifer's seven silkie bantam chicks is named Hennifer
Actress Jennifer Garner used to take her chicken Regina George, named after a character in the film Mean Girls, out for walks on a leash around LA. She bought her in 2017.
The star, who has three children with ex-husband, actor Ben Affleck, said: ‘If there isn’t a Chicken Lady Day, there really should be. Regina loves long walks, dehydrated bugs, and kale. Regina hates . . . carbs.’
Sadly, Regina died a year later and was replaced by seven silkie bantam chicks, one of whom she named Hennifer.
They live in a bespoke coop which Garner decorates with fairy lights at Christmas.
Nicole Kidman's less than urban lifestyle
Nicole Kidman's chicken is just one of the many animals she owns with husband Keith Urban, along with alpacas, a dog, cats, and fish
Since marrying country singer Keith Urban, actress Nicole Kidman has largely based herself at his huge home in Nashville, Tennessee.
They have six alpacas, a dog, two cats, ten fish and lots of chickens.
Fashions fit for Tori Spelling's fowl
Tori Spelling says her pet chicken is often mistaken for a poodle
Actress Tori Spelling calls herself ‘the chicken whisperer’. She used to let Coco, a bantam silkie, sleep in her bed, and even knitted her a poncho.
Spelling said: ‘She is white and fluffy and is often mistaken for a poodle!
'I call her a pocket chicken because she loves to be held and go places with me. I make her outfits to mimic my vintage dresses. She also has little capelets.’
Liz Hurley's fond farewell
Liz Hurley gave her rare chickens away when she moved home
Actress Liz Hurley kept rare chickens on her farm in the Cotswolds — but they didn’t come with her when she moved to Herefordshire.
The new house has a fishing lake and tennis court but not, it seems, room for poultry.
The birds were given to her publisher pal William Cash.
Reese Witherspoon revisits her roots with LA roost
Reese Witherspoon owns silkies - small fluffy chickens which are smaller than most and lay small eggs with large yolks
Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon keeps chickens at her Los Angeles home.
Pictured in a Draper James dress for InStyle magazine, she said: ‘We have chickens and we grow cucumbers and tomatoes. I love it. It reminds me of where I grew up in Tennessee.’
Witherspoon, married to talent agent Jim Toth, lives in Pacific Palisades, but also has a farm in the hills above Malibu, which is where she is thought to have her menagerie: two donkeys, three goats, two pigs and chickens.
Her chickens are silkies, small fluffy chickens which are smaller than most and lay small eggs with large yolks. They are also noted for having five toes rather than four.
Ed Sheeran's golden girls get A-list treatment
Ed Sheeran was devastated to lose several chickens to a fox attack earlier this month
One of the wealthiest men in pop, £170 million singer Ed Sheeran adores the chickens he keeps on his £3.7 million estate in Suffolk and was devastated to lose several birds to a fox attack earlier this month.
The coop is positioned next to an orchard in the extensive grounds, which also includes five properties, a swimming pool, gym and pub.
A source said that he is stepping up protection for the poultry. ‘Ed loves fresh produce from his gardens, so he doesn’t want to lose any more of his girls to foxes,’ he said.
The 58,000 square metre property is also home to his car collection, which includes an Aston Martin.
Feathering Nicole Richie's nest
Nicole Richie has previously said: ‘Chickens just give, there’s nothing bad about them.’
Richie, 38, the adopted daughter of singer Lionel, keeps chickens in a coop which matches her Los Angeles home
Famously hopeless with all things farming in the reality show The Simple Life, Nicole Richie is now a full convert.
Richie, 38, the adopted daughter of singer Lionel, keeps chickens in a coop which matches her Los Angeles home.
In 2017 she showed it off in an article in the magazine Architectural Digest in which she appeared wearing a feathered headdress and ballgown.
She says: ‘Chickens just give, there’s nothing bad about them.’
It's The Good Life for Rebekah Vardy and her brood
Rebekah Vardy gives her chickens Sky, Emerald and Darcey organic feed
WAG Rebekah Vardy keeps chickens at the Lincolnshire mansion she shares with husband Jamie, who made their coop and run.
Sky, Emerald and Darcey, are given organic feed. Her five children, including Sofia help collect eggs, which are said to be a key part of footballer Jamie’s protein-heavy diet.
Rebekah, whose husband is worth £9 million, grows 28 rows of fruit and veg.
She said: ‘I want to know where the food we eat has come from, and I want to encourage my kids to be outside rather than be stuck to a TV screen. I suspect most people think I have someone to wipe my bottom for me, but I’m a normal person.’
P.S. Crispin Odey's not-so-paltry poultry mansion!
Crispin Odey shelters 20 chickens at his Gloucestershire home. He spent £150,000 on a stone temple to keep the chickens in
Billionaire hedge fund boss Crispin Odey spent £150,000 on a stone temple to shelter 20 chickens at his Grade II-listed mansion in Gloucestershire.
The coop, 16 ft high and covering 775 sq ft, occupies the same space as a two-bedroom flat. He has so much money — some made from predicting the 2008 credit crunch — that he once grumbled: ‘I never know what to do with it.’
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