I had 4 ex battery leghorn hens that I got through 4H. We used them for the poultry judging competition. When I picked them up, they were the stinkiest, most pitiful looking birds I'd ever seen! Debeaked, in molt, dirty, and nails that were over an inch long! When I took them out of the travel cage and put them in the isolation pen, they wouldn't move. I had to put them on the roost because they froze when their feet touched the grass. It took them a few days to get used to the pen. They never had a problem eating. After 2 weeks, they were looking better and smelled a lot better. That is about when they started laying too. After 2 months, they looked like completely different hens! They looked great, nice and clean. I just rehomed them last week because I was getting too many eggs. And since they were still leghorns, their psycho flighty personality put them on the "rehome" list.
That being said, for this coming year, my father in law bought my girls Leghorn chicks. We'll be using my hand raised chickens for the Poultry judging practice. I don't want to deal with ex battery hens again.
That being said, for this coming year, my father in law bought my girls Leghorn chicks. We'll be using my hand raised chickens for the Poultry judging practice. I don't want to deal with ex battery hens again.