Jane Furnival was the author of cult bestseller Mr Thrifty's How to Save Money on Absolutely Everything, and became TV's Queen of Thrift as presenter of the BBC1 series Smart Spenders, and a regular on GMTV. Jane passed away in 2012, leaving Keeping Hens unpublished. The manuscript has been updated by her family and chicken experts, and the book includes a new foreword and contributions from her son Will.