Isn’t it odd...

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I'm not sure what is broadcast in the news on network television because we haven't watched it in years, but they definitely pick and choose the news they want you to see.

Definitely don’t hear about this stuff on the radio. They just want to sweep it under the rug.

 

[drumstick diva]

Now and then the newspapers will have a story about hoarders with loads of dead dogs, starving puppies etc. that gets shut down. But don't hear about chicken layer mills - they must have a stronger lobby. As was mentioned you don't hear about chickens unless it's avian flu or salmonella etc.

 

[Pharmagirl]

If you have a large city nearby, there are live poultry markets in the immigrant communities where you can rescue ex-battery hens for just a few dollars each. When you go in the store you will need to distinguish the spent hens, also referred to as soup or stew hens, from the broilers. Do not buy a broiler. Spent egg hens are only 12-18 month old and will still be prolific egg layers for you. It is just too costly for an egg factory to keep molting hens who temporarily stop laying. They may look a bedraggled sight because they are molting but they will quickly blossom. these hens are actually disease free and kept very healthy in order to lay properly. The market may have huge six-month-old silkies too! They are bred big as they are sold by the pound. Their black meat is considered a delicacy. You may have to convince the shopkeep to give you the hens live but this should not be a problem. (Bring cash and a cage.) When you pick them out, have them remove the girls from the cages with both hands. DO NOT let them snatch them out of the cages by the wing. These will be the sweetest friendliest hens you will ever have.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

If you have a large city nearby, there are live poultry markets in the immigrant communities where you can rescue ex-battery hens for just a few dollars each. When you go in the store you will need to distinguish the spent hens, also referred to as soup or stew hens, from the broilers. Do not buy a broiler. Spent egg hens are only 12-18 month old and will still be prolific egg layers for you. It is just too costly for an egg factory to keep molting hens who temporarily stop laying. They may look a bedraggled sight because they are molting but they will quickly blossom. these hens are actually disease free and kept very healthy in order to lay properly. The market may have huge six-month-old silkies too! They are bred big as they are sold by the pound. Their black meat is considered a delicacy. You may have to convince the shopkeep to give you the hens live but this should not be a problem. (Bring cash and a cage.) When you pick them out, have them remove the girls from the cages with both hands. DO NOT let them snatch them out of the cages by the wing. These will be the sweetest friendliest hens you will ever have.

How do the people selling the spent hens get them? I would like to buy some spent Leghorn hens in the future.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

It bothers me when people think that if they buy brown eggs then they’re “organic”. It’s just Red Sex Links caged up instead of Leghorns!

Even when people know, they still use the brown egg marketing tactic to sell more eggs. I live in a rural area with signs every few miles "Brown eggs for sale".

 

[dpenning]

That’s true but I find it odd that someone running a puppy mill will face charges for animal cruelty but the factory farmers won’t.

Unfortunately people running puppy mills typically don’t face cruelty charges. The animals are considered livestock and only have to meet ridiculously low standards, not much different than chickens.

 

[Pharmagirl]

Some of the largest egg mills are really packagers. They rely on mom and pop egg suppliers that will keep a few thousand birds at a time and rotate them out when they start their first molt. These hens can go to auction (this is where the live poultry markets get stock) or are just euthanized. The large-scale battery houses with 100K chickens or more will never let anyone in to see the chickens or sell them. Typically these mass egg producers keep four or five birds in a 17 X 17 cage all of their short lives. There are companies that come onsite to these huge farms and euthanize the birds or haul them away for processing. Also, soup and frozen food companies will use this grade of chicken meat. They may also be processed into "chicken paste" to become a by-product to make animal feed or fertilizer.

 

[Pharmagirl]

How do the people selling the spent hens get them? I would like to buy some spent Leghorn hens in the future.

The live poultry markets and the poultry auctions have leghorns and another brown breed (in the before and after photo). I am trying to figure out what kind they are.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

The live poultry markets and the poultry auctions have leghorns and another brown breed (in the before and after photo). I am trying to figure out what kind they are.

The brown chickens are Red Sex Links.

 

[The Moonshiner]

@Pharmagirl
Sounds exactly like here and those pics are the same as I saw.
Guy I talked to said they are sold at moult so all look that ragged. But look like second pic and are back to laying good two to three months later.
Here the leghorns are a pure production leghorn strain and the red sex links are lohmans browns.