Thinking about starting a 'chicken rescue'.....

[MTKitty]

Not sure if it is still applicable or applicable in your area, but my first job was picking eggs in a commercial farm with battery birds.

The farmer who owned the houses had a commercial contract to supply eggs. The contract company supplied the birds. At the end of the season, the company sent trucks to empty the cages and haul the hens to a slaughterhouse for processing.

If that is how it is done in your area, the birds may not belong to the person operating the egg farm. On the other hand, you don’t know until you ask.

 

[Lizzy733]

I would strongly recommend volunteering with an avian rescue organisation well before deciding to go the 'spares sanctuary route'.

People often refresh their flocks because layers have become non-productive. Once they reach this life stage, there are a 'ton' of medical problems that come with it and even if you do catch them early, there is no guarantee the bird will survive and your intervention may end up prolonging their suffering and you'll be required to make a quality of life call.

If you don't handle death well, or would be unable to cull a suffering pet you can't save, a rescue organisation is not for you.

As mentioned, you will have biosecurity concerns unless you have hectares between flocks, integration issues - if you have never managed flock integration, this is a very complicated and time-consuming process to do properly without putting undue stress on your birds.

Also, as several have mentioned, why are you intending to rehome your own birds? Sorry, but it comes off as if you are bored with them and can't help but wonder what will happen when you get bored of your rescues.

Do you feel it would be okay to have 13+ hens and only get 2-3 eggs a day? (Bit of an exaggeration, but older hens 'slow down', which you mentioned as a reason to refresh your flock, but also with older birds).

Are you good at poultry first-aid? Do you have contact with or know an avian vet? Are you familiar with symptoms of a sick hen and how to manage them in a critical state?

These are necessary skills when handling an aging flock. Their needs can be very different than pullets and chicks and improper care can lead to months long suffering and a slow death if you're unfamiliar with indentifying an issue until it's too late.

Do volunteer work - get experience around diseases and injured birds (without bringing it home to your flock) - and see how you feel about it then when you have a better understanding of how to manage these stressors.

I've done a lot of volunteer time and have enough skills to feel confident 'I' could handle something like this, but I wouldn't. I'd recommend enjoying and caring for your existing flock into their golden years and focus on their quality of life instead of disrupting what they have.

 

[InterestingChickens]

As @Lizzy733 makes the good point that aging hens will lay less. Birds that have been in battery farms will most likely lay even less than that of the average aging laying bird. This is becuase of their breed and the care the they have recived. Comerical production breeds drop off a lot in their second laying season, this is why they are then replaced with new birds. As for their care, a well cared for bird will normally always lay more than a neglected bird. Not saying that you shouldn't get them, it would be a good deed. Just something to think about.

 

[The Moonshiner]

We have a couple egg factories here.
They just cycle the hens. Once they hit 18 months they pull them all and auction them off in lots of 100.
People buy large quantities then resell them in small lots or one at a time at auctions and CL.

 

[WIchickMama]

Maybe I missed it but why do you want to get rid of your whole flock you have now?

Breeds not working for you or what you want in your flock?

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thanks everyone I will post more tomorrow...

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Not sure if it is still applicable or applicable in your area, but my first job was picking eggs in a commercial farm with battery birds.

The farmer who owned the houses had a commercial contract to supply eggs. The contract company supplied the birds. At the end of the season, the company sent trucks to empty the cages and haul the hens to a slaughterhouse for processing.

If that is how it is done in your area, the birds may not belong to the person operating the egg farm. On the other hand, you don’t know until you ask.

I believe you are correct that almost all u.s. factory farm birds (for both meat and eggs) are owned by the major companies and are contracted out to be raised/cared for by individuals. That would explain why they are so hard (nearly impossible) to adopt.

@Lizzy733 i agree with everything you said. Although ex-battery spent hens are usually only 18 months old when they leave the factory farms to go to slaughter, they definitely require extensive special care as they recover, and some dont live long after they after they are rescued.

@cluckmecoop7 , whatever you decide, keep us posted and let us know.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Thank you so much for the kind replies and understanding! There actually is a factory farm near me....but I have no clue how to get a couple birds from it?

Rescuing factory hens is an AWESOME idea! My Beth escaped a similar situation, and it's amazing, yet sad what she's been through and what I've had to teach her. But she loves me more than any other hen I've ever owned. She follows me everywhere, plays with my hair, and will even take a dust bath in the grass if it means being next to me.
I don't know how to rescue these hens, but it'd definitely be worth looking into. There's a very well known chicken barns facility that is closing down that's nearby to me, and I've heard they're going (might already have) to be killing and wasting around (I think I was told) 50,000 egg laying machines by gassing because they're retired, and the place is closing and they don't have anything to do with the birds. Rescuing caged to caged free factory hens from being gased sounds wonderful, and I'm really hope that you'll be able to do that! They'll love you forever like my Beth does.

 

[McChooky]

My advise is sell or re-home the ones you have and think long and hard before you start rescuing any chickens off of Craigslist .People aren't always honest about why they're re-homing them and you could wind up with a flock full of sick and dying birds with diseases.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

We have a couple egg factories here.
They just cycle the hens. Once they hit 18 months they pull them all and auction them off in lots of 100.
People buy large quantities then resell them in small lots or one at a time at auctions and CL.

Interesting. Sounds like some of the layer hens in your area are Not owned by the large companies, and so they are able to sell direct to individuals. Personally i think it best to adopt directly from the factory farm, since individual resellers could easily introduce various poultry diseases, & ex-bats are already challenged enough.