Adopting ex battery hens

[Texascynt]

Try [email protected].

They have hens that have been rescued and need homes.

Cynthia

 

[Rasita]

Hi I have adopted two here in Belgium, a lady I know told me her kids rising teacher had got some. The going ryan here is 2 euro the poor girls had very few feathers if I kept any animal in this start I'd be prosecuted, hopefully the practice is being out lawed in Europe come on USA get with the protest movement make people aware of the way these poor ladies are treated. It's not just about if they go to make soup or pet food, their lives are terrible.

 

[Davaroo]

I live right in the middle of industrial chicken country. Large battery and growing houses dot the landscape everywhere. I pass three massive feed mills everyday, enterprises devoted to making feed solely for housed chickens.
We even have an annual "Poultry Festival" to fete the boon these businesses represent to our local economy.
With that said, I can tell you there are no battery hens made available for adoption around here. You are not even allowed near the facilities. The birds are not considered adoptable, mostly because they have a destiny, a purpose if you will, already laid out for them after their laying life is over.
A few may make it out alive, but in all the time I've lived here - I've never seen one outside the laying house.

 

[JMarch]

We got some ex-battery hens from a local egg farm a few years ago. The farm had an ad in the local newspaper for "retired commercial hens- $1 each". We got 10 white leghorns. They were pitiful- crowded in cages with too many other birds. They were very poor- almost naked. Had to trim their toenails, and were scared to death. Luckily our flock that we were introducing them to were all very young, so they didn't get picked on.

Their beaks had been trimmed, so we made sure to provide a deep feed dish for them so they could scoop the feed. They just stared at the sun for the first three days. They laid eggs anywhere they happened to be standing but eventually learned and preferred to use the nesting boxes. After a few weeks, they stopped laying and molted. We gave them extra protein and each one of them feathered out beautifully and resumed laying. They ever got really tame, but you could tell they were happy to free range.

 

[lightchick]

Can you just go to a egg farm that has ex batteries and ask if you can buy one?

 

[Mrs. K]

I would be very leary of adding them to an existing flock, they may bring in parasites and diseases.

Mrs K

 

[michaelof504]

We got some ex-battery hens from a local egg farm a few years ago. The farm had an ad in the local newspaper for "retired commercial hens- $1 each". We got 10 white leghorns. They were pitiful- crowded in cages with too many other birds. They were very poor- almost naked. Had to trim their toenails, and were scared to death. Luckily our flock that we were introducing them to were all very young, so they didn't get picked on.

Their beaks had been trimmed, so we made sure to provide a deep feed dish for them so they could scoop the feed. They just stared at the sun for the first three days. They laid eggs anywhere they happened to be standing but eventually learned and preferred to use the nesting boxes. After a few weeks, they stopped laying and molted. We gave them extra protein and each one of them feathered out beautifully and resumed laying. They ever got really tame, but you could tell they were happy to free range.

This is great to hear. I might be interested in doing this next spring. Glad to see a fellow Louisianian accomplish this.

 

[missypebble]

maco - I respect and admire you for trying to rescue these poor, innocent creatures. There are people who view chickens merely as "they're just chickens for Pete's sake!", then, there are people like you, who treasure God's creatures and want to at least take care of them.

I'm also looking forward to adopt an ex-batt hen near where I live, but thus far, it's not so simple!

 

[Free Feather]

I understand they could be riddled with disease and ailments, but that is all the more reason to adopt them. Just quarantine. If you find they have something, keep them separated forever if you have to. It is more important to adopt birds in need like them than to fund big business hatcheries and breeders, even small ones. People like that are kind of what causes the issues for birds like them, and how chickens are seen in general.

 

[BlueJayFarm]

I'm really glad to see this thread on here. I've been following the movement in the UK and Australia and admire the sentiment and all the progress they have made. We need to follow suit. It seems to me that typically it is rescues that save many of these poor birds, some of whom have been dumped in piles outside to die. For those looking to adopt an ex-batt, a good option is to find one of those rescues. These birds have never felt the ground, and have never seen the sun or grass. It's sad.

If during the time this thread was originally posted, an organization has emerged in the US to address this, please let us know. I would like to pitch in however I may be able to.

The British Hen Welfare Trust in the UK is the one I follow the most. Wildwood Farm Sanctuary in Oregon and also Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, also in Oregon, are good rescues who have taken up this cause.