Picked up my factory hens....pictures and story

[Motherhenandflock]

Bless your heart for adopting those poor girls.
I wonder if they have been fed some kind of hormone that makes them lay more eggs but causes the combs to grow too. You know, like at a dairy, they give the cows a hormone in their feed, to increase production.
Like chickbea said, they are in a large scale operation.
Mass production to feed the masses.

And yes, give them the spa treatment! They deserve it! Now they can relax and be Real chickens!

 

[crazy4daisy]

Whoa! Their toenails are long! I think you can clip them with dog toenail clippers...

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Thank you for rescuing those poor hens!! It's so sad what humans do to animals, even sadder that eh majority of the country has no idea... or doesn't care...what hens are put through to give them cheap eggs.

Good luck with your new girls. You can use dog nail trimmers to trim their nails, I'm sure it will help them feel better. They are probably just so overwhelmed at their new environment, but I'm sure in no time they will be acting like real chickens.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

crazy4daisy, you must have posted just before I did, lol. At least I'm not the only one thinking that dog nail trimmers work great on chickens...

 

[usbr]

I think calling animal control will in the long run cause more harm than good. I think it would be better to be thankful that the company even sold them, making waves will only shut that door. I think using the situation as an educational tool is a much better route.

Sad situation, yes. Abuse or against the law, doubt it.

Rich

 

[justusnak]

livestock.....I am sitting here bawling over the condition of those poor hens. They look so sad, and confused. I am sure they will realise just what a wonderfull thing has happened to them in no time. I am literally sick to my stomach...those poor poor hens...and to think..there are MILLIONS of them like that.
I agree...a warm bath...clipping the nails...and good feed. The eggs would be ok to eat...im sure they are safe. But I would put them on a mixture of chick starter and layer pellets. I think they would benefit from the vitamins. Oh dear...poor poor hens.

 

[V Chic Chick]

Quote:
That website, and charity, is brilliant. It's also my understanding that the combs act as heat dissipators, because they are so closely packed together in the cages.

Aran - their beaks actually have been trimmed, referred to as debeaking. The top mandible has been trimmed back. Make sure that you give them a deeper dish to help them scoop it up with their lower mandible, just as you would for a crook-beak hen.

Yes, their nails can be trimmed with dog nail clippers, just avoid the quick, and have some plain flour or bloodstop powder on standby.

Compared to pictures of other ex-battery hens that I've seen, they are actually remarkably well feathered.

 

[feathersnmore]

Those poor babies! that was wonderful of you to rescue and give them a good home, how people can be so cruel i will never know. please post update pics and how they are doing!

 

[chickbea]

Reporting them will do nothing. The way the chickens were housed and treated are considered "accepted management practices" and are endemic to every large operation in the U.S.
If you really want things to change, raise and eat your own birds and eggs, get involved with some of the free range/cage-free campaigns, etc.
NOTE: Some of the operations that tout their "cage-free" hens are just as barbaric as cage operations. The hens aren't caged, but they are in congregate pens where they sometimes have even less space than in a cage. I always tell people to look for the humane farming stamp. It provides a bit more protection.

 

[theOEGBman]

Thank You very much for doing this. If we all did this, we would be able to save thousands of hens from horrible deaths.

My Question now is, How did you do it? Did you just call them up and ask when they were getting rid of the old hens? Who did you call? I would love to do this. Thanks for any info you can give.