It’s not the farmer’s fault, it’s ours – if we as consumers want to pay next to nothing for eggs and meat, the farmer has to produce them for next to nothing, and that means factory farming. After a year their laying drops and they are replaced with new hens – that’s when the rescuers swoop in!
Here they are waiting to be picked up on the coordinators farm, we were late so this is just a few of them and they are in remarkably good condition. When we picked up our first hens Vera, Chuck and Dave (bonus points if you can work out why we named them that!) they were in much worse condition than this – Vera had very few feathers and Dave has no tail and a badly broken toe. We came to get just two this time - only possible because sadly Chuck died a few months ago, and we have such limited space. I’d take them all if I could!
Releasing them into their new home was crazy – you’d think they would run for the open space, but no, they huddled together in the cat-box and eventually I had to take it to bits to get them out – Vera, Chuck and Dave were the same. It’s definitely all to much for them!
The first meeting was a bit dodgy, lots of clucking and flapping, but after a couple of days in separate runs (but able to see each other) we let them in together.
Dave immediately went for them both but the run goes a long way back and they were able to escape. I got some pine tar bitter beak stuff to put on their necks (although I managed to get more of it on me, and it really does taste vile – mental note, if it says to wear gloves, wear gloves!) Dave is still chasing them but the pecking stopped pretty much straight away.
That’s Rita on the left and Lucy on the right. Compared to Vera (on the left) and Dave (on the right) in the back they look really scraggy but it won’t take long for their feathers to grow back and to start acting like proper hens.
Keeping hens is not very different to keeping rabbits or guinea pigs – they need fresh water and food every day, and a bit of cleaning out, but they are surprisingly quiet and give you eggs. The best thing is knowing you saved them from becoming dog food, the filling for cheap pies or *shudder* baby food.
If you’d like to rescue battery hens, in the UK you can contact Hen Rehomers UK or the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. They have coordinators all over the country, so find one that’s near you. I can’t fine any charities in the US which re-home hens, but if you live near a battery farm, best thing is to go and ask directly, or check out the Backyard Chickens forum, which is a great resource for all things chook.
If you can’t keep hens at home, but would like to help somehow, join Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall’s Chicken Out campaign or simply…
…buy free range!
One last note: If you are vegetarian, always check the label. Don’t assume prepared food is free range, many vege brands use battery eggs in their products, especially own-brands. In the UK Tesco is a major culprit but Quorn and Linda McCartney are fine, and everything from M+S is free range. Also, if it’s certified organic, it has to be free range.
Phew! Sorry to get a bit heavy on you :)
Beccy
Posts
Wow. Love what you're doing. You're awesome :)
ReplyDeleteThe Free Range fallacy:
ReplyDeleteCan You Tell The Difference?
"Free-Range" Hen
• Debeaked with a hot bloody blade at one day old with no anesthetic.
• Force molted (intentionally starved to shock the body into another laying cycle).
• Violently packed into a semi and trucked hundreds of miles to an agonizing slaughter when considered “spent” (unable to keep laying eggs at a fast enough pace).
• Denied the opportunity to live a natural life in truly humane care.
• All of her brothers (roosters) are brutally killed as baby chicks simply because they can’t lay eggs.
Battery Cage Hen
• Debeaked with a hot bloody blade at one day old with no anesthetic.
• Force molted (intentionally starved to shock the body into another laying cycle).
• Violently packed into a semi and trucked hundreds of miles to an agonizing slaughter when considered “spent” (unable to keep laying eggs at a fast enough pace).
• Denied the opportunity to live a natural life in truly humane care.
• All of her brothers (roosters) are brutally killed as baby chicks simply because they can’t lay eggs.
Woah there Michael!
ReplyDeleteI'm speaking for the UK here.
None of my rescued battery hens have been de-beaked so if that is the case, it's not likely that ALL free range hens are de-beaked either. I'm not defending the practice by any means, but de-beaking is a preventative measure to stop incidences of pecking and canibalism brought on by overstocking.
Hens need to moult, it is a natural process and not all artificial moult in induced in this way (in fact, not all food is withdrawn, the birds are fed at maintanence levels). Lessening the amounts of light and subtly changing calcium and zinc levels in food has the same effect. Forcing a moult lessens the decline in egg production and reduces the incidence of broken and shell-less eggs (which can cause serious internal problems if the egg cannot be passed properly or breaks within the hen) and so actually prolongs the hen's life
Violently packed maybe, and yes they are all slaughtered when 'spent', regardless of the way they have been reared, but then no food animal is 'euthanised', and wouldn't you prefer they had a better life beforehand?
If you want to eat meat (and I do) then you have to come to terms with the fact that farming has to happen. Animals cannot be kept in as humane way as most of us would like because there are too many people out there who prefer cheap meat (£1.50 for a whole chicken anyone?)
As for all cockerels being killed, yep that's true, but it's the same lot for many male animals.
The European Union regulates free range minimum conditions as:
Hens having continuous daytime access to open air runs (except in cases of vetinary advisement e.g. cases of avian flu).
The open air runs must be mainly vegetation and not used for other purposes.
Open air runs must have a stocking density of no more than 2500 hens per hectare (or one hen per 4m2)and the runs must not extend beyond a radius of 150m from the nearest pophole (or 350m if shelters and drinking troughs are provided at no less than 4 per hectare)
There is no legal definition in the US for free range eggs. However, the USDA requires that to be classified free range, broiler hens must have access to the 'outdoors' which could mean grass, pasture, gravel or dirt. You should look for the term 'pastured poultry' if you want proper free range meat.
I'm not a vegetarian, and I'm not about to start. I'm doing my bit as best I can and I don't think it's fair to insinuate that those uf us who choose to eat free range are mugs. What would you prefer - that we all eat cheaply produced battery meat and eggs simply because you have cut and paste from a site that says its just the same really?
If you want more information, contact Compassion in World Farming http://www.ciwf.org.uk or in the US, the American Pastured Poultry Association http://www.apppa.org or the USDA http://www.fsis.usda.gov.
If you want things to change, you can't just demonise the farmers practices, they are brought on by our own greed. Write to your MP/MEP/Prime Minister/Congressman/Senator/Mr Obama himself.
Become vegetarian/vegan if you like, but please don't take information out of context and post it on my blog.
Grr.
Beccy, your post is so informative, I had no idea it was like that. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI was considering getting some hens....I hadn't even thought of adopting! Thanks for the idea. Also, cute names....from the beatles, when I'm 64:-)
ReplyDeleteWOW! That is so amazing what you're doing. This post made me tear up.
ReplyDeleteI'm a vegetarian and I recently (three weeks now!) stopped eating eggs outside of the home. It's just too difficult to figure out where they really come from and I really don't trust the labels. It kills me to pass on a scone from my favorite bakery like I did this morning, but it makes my eggs and the chocolate cake from my chicken-raising friend taste all the better.
Super big hugs from me, my chickens and animals everywhere. You're amazing!