All you can eat, classical music on repeat, soft bedding and an afternoon treat of corn – it’s a life of luxury for the poultry staying at a new all-inclusive hen hotel.

Katriona Shovlin, who has eight chickens of her own, decided to set up her “hennels” after noticing a gap in the market when she was looking for somewhere to board her beloved birds.

Known as the “local egg dealer” the 31-year-old, from Upchurch, said: “I like to go away with my family and I thought to myself, who's going to look after my chickens?

“Who do I trust to do that because there are dangers, such as foxes or other predatory animals, which means my flock needs to be locked away and kept safe.

“A friend started doing it for me, but I thought there was obviously a gap in the market as chickens are becoming more and more popular as pets.

“So I thought of hennels, which are like kennels but for hens.”

Katriona got her flock of hens a few years ago after she looked after them for a neighbour.

She explained: “She always used to ask me if I would look after her chickens while she went away on business and in the end, she said, ‘You look after them much more than I do. So, can you have them?’ And I said ‘yeah, happily’ and I’ve looked after them ever since.”

Her chickens now have automatic sliding doors from their hen house into their chicken run and even classical music playing at all times to ensure they are living the best life possible.

The mum-of-one continued: “So now I offer an all-inclusive hotel stay for people’s hens.

“This includes food, an afternoon treat of corn, all the bedding, and everything else that they need to be happy and safe away from home.

“The hens have their own area down the end of the garden away from mine.

“Hens can't be mixed because a flock is a flock and they're very territorial. So they're away from mine out of sight. It's a very peaceful, non-stressful environment.

“I have seen other hennels on the internet where it's not like that at all, and the birds can be lined up to see each other, so it's very noisy.

“I’ve tried to keep my hennels very different from that. It depends on what you want out of your animals.

“But for me, happy hens are just what I want.”

Katriona, who also does admin work for a limousine company, studied animal care and management at MidKent College and then Animal Science at Canterbury Christ Church.

The hen hotel not only boards hens but also ducks.

She said: “A lot of people have chickens as pets, although they are always usually associated with farms or farm yards.

“As rescues are becoming more and more popular it's nice to see that more people are having chickens and ducks as pets.

“I get that not everybody likes birds, but I see them as pets first.

“They do tend to look after themselves and with the eggs they lay I sell them in an honesty box outside the property.

“Any money I make is sent to the British Hen Welfare Trust and last month alone I raised £131.

“Everybody who walks along with either their dogs or children on their way home from school just loves buying the eggs.

“And I'm referred to as the chicken lady or the egg lady.

“Although it is slowing down because it is the winter I can get a box of eggs a day out of them.

“But that isn’t why I have them, it’s just a bonus. As a lot of them are ex-commercial I believe they've done their hard work, and if they do lay eggs, great.

“If they don't, they don't, they're just pets, so it doesn't make any difference.”

In both Katriona’s personal chicken run and her hennels the birds are surrounded by several enrichment activities and toys.

She explained: “They're very clever animals. When you spend time with a chicken, they are very endearing and quirky.

“They've all got characters the same as a cat, or a dog, or a goat, or whatever other animal you might have.

“They're very addicting and I think people will fall in love with them.”

To find out more about Katriona’s hen hotel visit the Hen Weekend Chicken boarding Facebook page.

“I could’ve chosen more glamorous work, and it definitely won’t make me a millionaire, but hens are so relaxing to care for and look after. They do act like therapy,” she added.