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

[radical53]

Wow you are sooo nice to help those chickens out

.

It would be very cool if you can take individual pictures of them now and in 4 months take the individual pics again so we/you can see the difference that good conditions have on their well being.

Your an angel

 

[mudhen]

I'm in tears.

Thank you to you and your daughter for taking them in. They definately deserve a bit of pampering and extra love, especially in the name of all the ones that won't ever have the chance.

Keep us posted as to their progress. I agree with what everyone is saying, you guys and everyone who can do this are angels!

 

[blue90292]

yes, please let us know how you found out where to go. i know we have egg plants here in brazoria county but my extension office knows zilch.

i talked to a fellow chicken guy at my feedstore and he said he only knows of the egg plants in gonzales county which is almost 2 hours away. they sell their layers (that no longer lay) for $2 a hen. he said once you take them home and get a little protein in them, they start laying again.

if you could let us know how you went about finding them, that would be wonderful.

 

[MissPrissy]

You did a great thing in helping those hens.

Instead of cracking their eggs and throwing them away why not boil them and feed them back to the hens? Protein is protein and the animal protein is one of a very few sources of complete chain aminoacids. I am sure it would do them a world of good along with fresh air, fresh water, good grain feed and much needed TLC.

I have seen/read about battery hens similar to yours. I think it is the steroids and hormones and things they are given that cause the combs to grow so large (but sometimes it is just a genetic trait in a line of poultry). With good nourishment and time you should see their combs brighten to a rudy red and straighten up at least a bit.

Good luck to you with these hens.

 

[Southern28Chick]

I have one thing to say to you and one thing only......YOU are a BEAUTIFUL person for what you did!!!!!

 

[SpottedCrow]

Oh My Goddess!!! Those poor birdies!! What a horrible way to "live". I commend you for taking at least a few of them away from that hell hole of an egg farm...
20,000 Good Karma points for you!!!
They are probably White Leghorns and laying eggs is what they do...no matter how bad off they are... You could keep them in almost total darkness to stop it, but I'd just leave things as they are...
I agree with the combs. Obelisk's seems to wilt in the summer too.

 

[livestock101]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. To answer questions........

How did I find this place? I'm not sure. I had heard that there was a place near me (within an hour drive) and decided to go to Google and search. This is what I found:

http://www.manta.com/mb_34_C00FC_000/chicken_eggs

This site lists 669 Egg Companies. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can search by state, which I did. I clicked on Idaho and 4 listings for Egg Companies in Idaho came up. The bottom listing (under Idaho) Ritewood, INC is located about 45 minutes from here. That's where these poor hens came from.

So I called them. I lied and said, "Hello. I'm looking for stewing hens and wondered if you guys sell any of your chickens." She said they did. I asked when they would be available and how much they cost. She gave me a date and said they cost 50 cents each. Drove to pick them up and you all know what happened after that.

I encourage anyone and everyone to get a couple if you can. It's so sad that we can't rescue them all but even a few is something.

 

[bayouchica]

What a wonderful thing you did... those are some lucky hens.Please let us know how they are doing.
Miriam

 

[Betsy]

Oh, my goodness! The look in those hens' eyes is so pitiful!
God bless you for rescuing them and giving them a new life! Please keep us posted on how they're doing.
When I was young, my homeschool group went on a field trip to one of those factory farms. Even though I knew nothing about factory farming then, my gut told me something was wrong when the tour guide said that people always asked him about the hens needing to go outside, and he always replied that no, it wasn't necessary like they were stupid.
My aunt has pictures somewhere of that field trip.
I have another story about another laying factory...but this post is long enough!
Good luck with your rescue girls!

 

[Sharona]

I don't have words to say what I feel when I look at those pics except that blessings will come to you for what you have done.

Do you think the over growth of their nails and combs could be from some massive protein pushed into their diets for production purposes?

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