My new Ex-Battery hens | Animals Australia Unleashed

1 5 Nov 2010

Hi everyone.

On Wednesday I went to 'Homes for Hens' and adopted 6 hens (2 are for my neighbour).

I have now seen first hand the pain and suffering that these hens have had to endure throughout their lives. When I got my hens out of their boxes and put them on the ground (it was a very warm, sunny day) they just sat there and stretched out their wings sunbaking, because it was probably the first time they had felt the warmth of the sun. They then made their way into their shed as I think that being outside was a little too much for them to handle. They are just starting to stand at the door of the shed now and there is one hen who has been brave enough to venture out and peck around, however staying very close to the shed. Poor little things.

One of the hens, who I have called Honey, has a very sore leg from too much walking around, her poor little weak legs couldnt handle it. She cant stand on one leg and so is in my bedroom in her little box with straw sleeping next to my bed. She talks alot! She is very happy though - eating, drinking etc so I think she will come right with a bit of rest. If not its off to the vet!

I would like to say what a great thing Monique at Homes for Hens is doing. She is giving these hens a second chance of life.

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wild child2 QLD • Posts: 2638

2 5 Nov 2010

Rhiannon.Garrett said:

Hi everyone.

On Wednesday I went to 'Homes for Hens' and adopted 6 hens (2 are for my neighbour).

I have now seen first hand the pain and suffering that these hens have had to endure throughout their lives. When I got my hens out of their boxes and put them on the ground (it was a very warm, sunny day) they just sat there and stretched out their wings sunbaking, because it was probably the first time they had felt the warmth of the sun. They then made their way into their shed as I think that being outside was a little too much for them to handle. They are just starting to stand at the door of the shed now and there is one hen who has been brave enough to venture out and peck around, however staying very close to the shed. Poor little things.

One of the hens, who I have called Honey, has a very sore leg from too much walking around, her poor little weak legs couldnt handle it. She cant stand on one leg and so is in my bedroom in her little box with straw sleeping next to my bed. She talks alot! She is very happy though - eating, drinking etc so I think she will come right with a bit of rest. If not its off to the vet!

I would like to say what a great thing Monique at Homes for Hens is doing. She is giving these hens a second chance of life.

Hey Rhiannon!

Good on you for adopting some hens from Monique! She is a fantastic lady, doing such a great thing for these poor girls!

I adopted 3 from her about 2 months ago now and it was the best decision I ever made.

Cinderella, Rupunzel & Fiona have improved so much already!

At first as you know all their combs are large and pale and drooped over to one side, now with all the sunshine, fresh air and healthy diet they are red and standing tall.

They have a few leg problems from the poor diet and lack of exercise/sunshine in the battery cages and they aren't very good runners lol but they are getting there.........

Their feathers are almost all grown back too happy

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wild child2 QLD • Posts: 2638

3 5 Nov 2010

Anyone wanting to give some long term lovin' to ex battery hens contact Monquie at Homes for Hens

Her details are on the website -

http://www.homesforhens.net/

chick

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Brendon NSW • Posts: 1212

4 5 Nov 2010

I can't wait until I live in a place big enough to have rescue hens.
I'm so looking forward to it!
Good on you!!!

You should all check out A Poultry Place; Bede the owner does such amazing work there.

Here's an interview with him about it: http://animal-lib.org.au/get-active/activists/79-carmody-bede-alnsw.html

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...2 WA • Posts: 2307

5 5 Nov 2010

We've rescued battery hens before. I was 7 when I first set foot into a battery farm. I remember walking along the aisle, looking at the birds on either side of me, crammed in cages. All I could smell was sh!t, there were more feathers on the ground than on the birds... it was really tragic. The man sold the hens for around $2 each. But because they're old, and sick, and abused, they don't generally live for very long. Winters are very hard on them. So my dad stopped buying battery hens and now spends $30-$50 on different breeds of hens- most of them bred to be show birds. I think that's ridiculous. I'd much rather save battery hens. Sure, they lay very few eggs (I don't eat egg anyway) and they die after a short time, but I'd much rather give them a happy end to a horrendous life than buy hens bred for a life of luxury so to speak.

So good on you. happy

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wild child2 QLD • Posts: 2638

6 5 Nov 2010

Valkyrie Uruz said:

Sure, they lay very few eggs (I don't eat egg anyway) and they die after a short time

This is a huge misconception.

(Your situation may have been different)

Ex battery hens still lay plenty of eggs (not that that's the reason we keep them)
However, their first year is more productive, that's why these companies get rid of them after the first year or so.... If they can have a hen laying 301 eggs a year over a hen that lays 300 - they will chose the one that lays the one extra, because when you have thousands of hens it all adds up.
An Isa Browns life expectancy is only around 3-4 years anyway but I have spoken to people that have adopted alot of ex battery hens at 18 months and they have lived on til 5years.

Mine are really not much different now to the hens I bought from the livestock supplier as pullets.

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...2 WA • Posts: 2307

7 5 Nov 2010

wild child2 said:

Valkyrie Uruz said:

Sure, they lay very few eggs (I don't eat egg anyway) and they die after a short time

This is a huge misconception.

(Your situation may have been different)

Ex battery hens still lay plenty of eggs (not that that's the reason we keep them)
However, their first year is more productive, that's why these companies get rid of them after the first year or so.... If they can have a hen laying 301 eggs a year over a hen that lays 300 - they will chose the one that lays the one extra, because when you have thousands of hens it all adds up.
An Isa Browns life expectancy is only around 3-4 years anyway but I have spoken to people that have adopted alot of ex battery hens at 18 months and they have lived on til 5years.

Mine are really not much different now to the hens I bought from the livestock supplier as pullets.

Yeah, none of ours ever laid many eggs, so Dad decided he would only get the most "well bred" pullets he could get. I don't know why ours didn't lay much.

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Clud VIC • Posts: 1559

8 5 Nov 2010

Sounds like your doing greaT! I've always wondered though, how do they get them?

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hayley2 VIC • Posts: 208

9 6 Nov 2010

wild child2 said:

Valkyrie Uruz said:

Sure, they lay very few eggs (I don't eat egg anyway) and they die after a short time

This is a huge misconception.

(Your situation may have been different)

Ex battery hens still lay plenty of eggs (not that that's the reason we keep them)
However, their first year is more productive, that's why these companies get rid of them after the first year or so.... If they can have a hen laying 301 eggs a year over a hen that lays 300 - they will chose the one that lays the one extra, because when you have thousands of hens it all adds up.
An Isa Browns life expectancy is only around 3-4 years anyway but I have spoken to people that have adopted alot of ex battery hens at 18 months and they have lived on til 5years.

Mine are really not much different now to the hens I bought from the livestock supplier as pullets.

I understand this, but I had an interesting question the other day I couldnt answer. Do you know how they monitor how many eggs hens are laying? As in if birds are not laying as many eggs as before , would they go by rows or cages of certain hens ? or do they just have a general cycle of 1 to 2 years and assume they are all spent ? silly question I know but it would be hard to keep track of these huge farms !

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wild child2 QLD • Posts: 2638

10 6 Nov 2010

hayley2 said:

wild child2 said:

Valkyrie Uruz said:

Sure, they lay very few eggs (I don't eat egg anyway) and they die after a short time

This is a huge misconception.

(Your situation may have been different)

Ex battery hens still lay plenty of eggs (not that that's the reason we keep them)
However, their first year is more productive, that's why these companies get rid of them after the first year or so.... If they can have a hen laying 301 eggs a year over a hen that lays 300 - they will chose the one that lays the one extra, because when you have thousands of hens it all adds up.
An Isa Browns life expectancy is only around 3-4 years anyway but I have spoken to people that have adopted alot of ex battery hens at 18 months and they have lived on til 5years.

Mine are really not much different now to the hens I bought from the livestock supplier as pullets.

I understand this, but I had an interesting question the other day I couldnt answer. Do you know how they monitor how many eggs hens are laying? As in if birds are not laying as many eggs as before , would they go by rows or cages of certain hens ? or do they just have a general cycle of 1 to 2 years and assume they are all spent ? silly question I know but it would be hard to keep track of these huge farms !

I think they have a cycle of 18months or so and they clear the entire shed and replace with point of lay pullets.
Obviously the amount of eggs collected in the shed as a whole would reduce slightly and this is when they would change layers.

Monique has said that when she is in there collecting what hens she can to take home, gently removing them from their cages, there are men beside her clearing all the not so lucky hens out just grabbing them by their wings and legs and stuffing them into the transport crates sad

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