I really dont see what was so bad about it, the kids left food and water, they did it in the night so there wasnt that much stress, and the hens werent that harmed, they were laying. Last year some kids set 15 cornish cross chickens and about 30 mice loose in the school. One of the meat birds died over the weekend, there was no food or water, and the birds were already about 8 lbs. Being the only chicken kid in the school, the chickens were given to me, they were then butchered because they were too fat to do anything else with.