Hen Rescue

aonb

In case any of you SMALLHOLDERS out there dont look at the animal & pet forum, there is a thread on there about a battery in Laois and 7000 battery hens being available on 9th Sept.

Just in case any of you would be willing/able to rescue some ex-batts. Ive had them before now (cant fit in any this time) and apart from looking bad initially, they recover very quickly, they are about a year old, so plenty of egg laying life left in them with good food and decent coop. Plus you would be doing a kindness in rescuing some of these poor ex-batts before they're slaughtered :mad:

Fries-With-That

aonb wrote: »

In case any of you SMALLHOLDERS out there dont look at the animal & pet forum, there is a thread on there about a battery in Laois and 7000 battery hens being available on 9th Sept.

Just in case any of you would be willing/able to rescue some ex-batts. Ive had them before now (cant fit in any this time) and apart from looking bad initially, they recover very quickly, they are about a year old, so plenty of egg laying life left in them with good food and decent coop. Plus you would be doing a kindness in rescuing some of these poor ex-batts before they're slaughtered :mad:

I'm just curious about this, I have a bit of land with a few(3.5) acres of forestry attached.
I have often wondered about free ranging hens but here is the problem the land is not fenced to keep in hens or keep foxes out, would it be considered cruel to put (end of usefulness to a battery farmer) hens on this land and let them live wild.
If a fox takes a few its part of a natural process, if a few escape and live in the hundreds of acres of forestry that surround my land that too would be part of a natural process.
In the mean time people could come collect eggs and view chickens in the wild.
In my opinion this would be a far better end to their lives than being slaughtered for whatever it is they go into now.
I'm fairly certain people could be convinced to adopt a hen or ten if someone else was providing the ground to keep them on.

What do you think.

yellowlabrador

I don't think that's a good idea at all. When I lived in London, i volunteered at a city farm. We once got a battery chicken donated that had escaped before being slaughtered. It took a long time for that chicken to leave her little spot. She basically lived in a tiny square and never ventured out for weeks, although she was surrounded by free range chickens. They also tend to have very few feathers. It would be cruel to expect them to survive on their own. They've been confined to a small cage and have food constantly available, they wouldn't know how to forage and survive. If you have a proper coop and you can keep a close eye to prevent bullying, they do settle down and are great layers.

marizpan

Fries-With-That wrote: »

I'm just curious about this, I have a bit of land with a few(3.5) acres of forestry attached.
I have often wondered about free ranging hens but here is the problem the land is not fenced to keep in hens or keep foxes out, would it be considered cruel to put (end of usefulness to a battery farmer) hens on this land and let them live wild.
If a fox takes a few its part of a natural process, if a few escape and live in the hundreds of acres of forestry that surround my land that too would be part of a natural process.
In the mean time people could come collect eggs and view chickens in the wild.
In my opinion this would be a far better end to their lives than being slaughtered for whatever it is they go into now.
I'm fairly certain people could be convinced to adopt a hen or ten if someone else was providing the ground to keep them on.

What do you think.

I think this is more cruel than slaughter.
Cold, wet, starvation and fear of being hunted by the local foxes etc.

They do not know how to forage. They will not have much feathers. No hen social skills and a fear of open spaces.

fathead82

Where are the hens available from? I might take 2 or 3 if they are near.