We Rescued Laying Hens From A Battery (Factory Farm)

About two months ago we had the opportunity to save some chickens from a horrible life.  The factory farms here only keep chickens until they are 18months old and then they turn them out.  They try to sell them for a dollar a hen, many times they go to just as bad of a home, people looking to score some cheap hens only to end up shoving them into a confined cage again.  

These girls were confined 6 to a small cage, in Canada this is what we label eggs as "Free Run".  Man, the way people treat chickens makes me cry.  Their toenails were so long they were curling under.  Their bums were burned looking, not a single hen had a feather on her bum.  Their poop wasn't even poop, it was a yellow/white liquid, that truly looked like it hurt.  It looked acidic.  They had their tail feathers broken in half.  I don't know if this was because of their close confinement, or if workers at the battery cut off any feathers that stuck out of the cages.  

They had never seen the sun.  Never felt the wind.  Never walked.  Never stretched their wings.  Never scratched.  Never felt the rain.  

In this video you will see the first moment they arrived.  Images may be distressing.  It's important I feel to tell people the truth about "Free Run" eggs.   

This is our rooster Sider, he was a bachelor waiting patiently for his hens...

I am so lonely Mama... 

When the hens first arrived, we kept Sider separated from them for a while.  We didn't know if he would try and copulate with them right away, and they were pretty shaken up already.  When we introduced them...

Sider was the perfect gentleman.

He's not the man we thought he was!  He was so gentle and caring to the new hens.  He knew they were damaged, and gave them a lot of space.  I could tell he was interested but over the next days, he let them be, never scaring any of them.  The poor little angels spent most of the first week, here in the corner of their coop.  

This is one of those moments where I just cry.  Looking at these poor babies just breaks my heart!  Makes me scream "What the f$%k is wrong with humanity?!"  How can we do this to each other just for money.  A fictional creation.  We harm true Living beings, for a piece of paper, for a number on a computer screen, for metallic trinkets. 

Of course the story has a happy ending.  The girls never wanted to go outside, they were so used to being in, it was all they knew.  Once we were sure that their eyes had adjusted to sunlight (we would keep the barn doors open to let light in as they hid under the nesting boxes) we 'kicked them out of the nest' so to speak.  There was no kicking.  We gently placed them into the chicken run.  It wasn't long until we saw the first girl scratching.  Ooh her nails were too long.  We had to trim their nails every week, only taking 1/4th of an inch off at a time, to not damage their extremely long quicks.  

Next thing we knew the hens were following Sider out of the run to do some free ranging!  I'll always remember the first day it rained, I cried.  Just knowing they had never felt it before was very emotional for me.  At first the wind scared them, now they just love the great outdoors, and I can hardly keep them in the pen at all, they just look so longingly out to the little place they free run in.  We call it the 'flower forest'.

Climbing rocks, scratching and pecking in the moss and dead leaves.  They are so brave!

You'll have to really look to see all the chickens.  They look so beautiful in nature, living the life they are supposed to.  Free, Healthy, and Loved.  You can see the back of Sider here too, we call him:  The Ring Leader.  Sure enough, anytime the chickens get into my garden...he's at the head of the parade!

And just look at them now!  I took this photo last week when the rescue hens made another huge first.  They started jumping onto the little roost we have in their pen.  Though they still sleep on the floor in the coop at night, I have a lot of hope seeing them jumping.  Maybe they will be roosting at night soon!  I sure hope so, I hate that they sleep down on the floor, I've read mice will come into coops at night and bite the little chickens feet.  

If you compare the last photo, with the video of their first day, you will notice their combs have gained a lot of colour.  When they first came here, their combs were very pink, and even a bit cream coloured in some spots.  Probably the reason they are finally roosting outside, is because they can now that their nails have gotten short enough.  

Thanks for reading :)  Remember, support local, small farms if you can.  Free Run is not freedom.