Only the best for my... chicken? Middle-class families are forking out to have their pet birds pampered in 'hennels' - where they are serenaded with Mozart and given blowdrys

Middle-class families are paying to have their pet birds pampered in 'hen hotels', where animals are serenaded by classical music and given luxury spa treatments.

Companies looking after chickens and hens while their owners are on holiday have sprung across the UK as demand for animal boarding firms has skyrocketed. 

The quirky 'hennels' charge owners anything from £2 to £13 a night look after their birds. In return, the pets are given luxury roasts to relax in, are fed and receive treatments similar to those normally associated with dog groomers. 

Self-confessed animal nut Katriona Shovlin set up her hen hotel near Maidstone, Kent, in September, after looking after her friend's flock which she later inherited. 

The 31-year-old animal sciences graduate offers her 'customers' spa treatments, from blowdrys to luxury baths, while playing soothing tunes from Mozart. The mother-of-one told MailOnline: 'I am clucking mad and I love it. I have always been animal mad.

'Hens are so special. They are like small dinosaurs. You wouldn’t think a bird would crave attention or love or affection but they do. They really enjoy being around humans. They’re so busy, they always have something to do. They’re just so interesting to watch.'

As well as stays at her Hen Weekend company, in Upchurch, Katriona also offers 'chick inn' services where she pops in to look after larger flocks for a day or two, and she runs hen keeping courses for beginners. 

She added: 'My partner Wayne always tells me I spend more time with those hens than I do with him. But he doesn't bat an eyelid anymore.

'It’s not abnormal for him to come home from work and a chicken is being blow-dried in the sitting room. Sometimes there are little ducks swimming around in baths.' 

Also making a nest egg from looking after chickens are former bank workers Peter and Glenda Stoneman. 

They set up their Cosy Hen Company in Earlswood,  Monmouthshire, south east Wales, in 2008, starting with five coops. They have since expanded to 16 and have noticed a massive increase in demand over the past five years. 

Grandfather-of-two Peter, 67, told MailOnline: 'We never knew thought it would take off like this when we started over 10 years ago. But over the years its grown and grown and grown.

'We can now look after about 45 birds. We give them a secure accommodation in a house and run and provide all the food and bedding.'

Peter, who also looks after about 140 alpacas on his 50-acre farm, charges £2 per bird per night.

He added the idea for his 'hennel' came after a few of the chickens he sold to local customers were killed by foxes.

'We had chickens of our own and kept them as part of our farm. We sold some chickens to a young couple and after a while they came to buy some more.

'They told us their neighbour looked after them for one night while they were away but a fox came in and killed them all. Then a few weeks later someone we sold chickens too previous came to us with almost the same story. That’s how it was formed,' he added. 

Retired teacher Hilary Gaskin, 77, started The Hen Hotel in Hampshire seven years ago, after a friend asked her to look after her birds for a week. 

The mother-of-four took up looking after chickens following the death of her husband Bob, 12 years ago. Since then, business had boomed.

Running from April to October each year, she already has 10 chickens booked for stays at her 'Hen Hotel' in the leafy village of Bishop's Waltham between Portsmouth and Southampton, and charges £7.50 a day for up to three birds for six-night stays.

She added: 'I fell into this completely by accident. A friend of mine asked me if I would I look after her chickens while she went to Spain.

'I thought hang on she can’t be the only one out there who needs to find a place for their chickens to stay while their away. 

'I’ve had chickens and hens for years and years. It seemed a good idea. I was on my own. My husband had died. It seemed like something to keep me going in the morning. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning. I love it.'

Hilltops Hen Hotel, in Boquhan, Stirlingshire, Scotland, also run boarding services for chickens and ducks, with birds staying in 'luxury Omlet Coops with secure runs'. Prices range from £9 per night to £13. 

Marlow Poultry, in Buckinghamshire, charges £5 per night for one to three hens and houses some chickens in its 'Green Frog "Eco" hen houses', made from sustainable materials. 

Its website says 'each hen house has a spacious run' and are 'cleaned regularly' with 'fresh shavings laid down', adding that 'hens will be fed high quality layers pellets'. 

The pet day-care and overnight boarding market is expected to grow by £6.9bn during the period between 2020 and 2024, supported by the boom in pet ownership during the pandemic, according to market researchers Technavio.