Rehoming Ex-Battery Hens

Very Exciting ! on the 15th November Hen Rehomers
will be taking 2k hens out of a battery farm - what a great weekend that will be, obviously all of these girls will need rehoming and this week I have been phoning all those people who have offered homes - its been very rewarding and I am sure all of these ladies will wake up in lovely new homes on Sunday the 16th ready to begin their new lives - thanks to everyone who is helping with the actual rescue and big thanks to all those kind people who have stepped in with open arms.
I was hoping to tell you how well the rescue was going - and how worth while it was that the people organising it had to stay up until 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning. However the worst news is that the rescue has been cancelled by the farmer - 2,000 hens will now stay in their own little hell until well after the Christmas period and into the new year -
The reason ? as always MONEY !

There is currently a shortage of eggs throughout the EC. This is because a very large number of egg farmers have chosen to go out of business due to
the impending EC ban on battery cages, coming in 2012 - many battery farmers have decided to give up rather than make the massive investment in the new
"enhanced cages" which will be required from that date.
The resulting egg shortage is felt particularly over the Christmas period, since this is the
time of year when demand for eggs is highest, not only in the EC, but also in non-EC countries that we import from (all those Christmas cakes,chocolate logs, egg flans and other goodies, I suppose).
In the face of this shortage, at a time of high demand, farmers are suddenly being offered much
higher prices for their eggs between now and Christmas than they can normally get.
You would think that the farmer was just exchanging "old hens" for "new" hens but its not quite that simple - hens are supplied "point of lay" - this means they are just about to start laying but it will be a couple of months before they are in full lay.
Although his old hens are now "past their best" in terms of laying, they are still laying OK, and doing better than the point of lay birds will do.
The farmer will now keep them, feed them high protein food, and try to get as many eggs
out of them as possible between now and Christmas while egg prices are high.
He will then replace them in the new year.
Heartbreaking isnt it - at such short notice too with families and rescuers geared up to take the ladies to lovely new homes - but hey thats business for you !

Prior to taking your new friends home you read everything pertaining to chickens, how to house them, how to talk to them, how to feed them.
You visit websites, you join yahoo groups, you accost smallholders at the local farmers market,and then you visit wikipedia.

Here is a tip . . . . .

Dont bother !

The only thing you need to know is that your hens will begin to train you from the minute you carry them carefully away from the collection centre !

The ladies and gents at the collection point are wonderful and have little bags of food of various kinds so that idiots like me who dont read the attachment to the email, have some layers pellets to give your guests when you get them home instead of the wrong stuff you bought in a five tonne sack !

All are agreed that hens like anything and everything, fruit, yoghurt, vegetables of all kinds, corn on the cob, peelings etc etc.

First day of our new hen life I buy 2 fresh corn on the cob for them, the ladies view them with suspicion, not suprising when you think that in the battery all they got was mash mash and more mash.
However I did think that maybe they would peck the cobs to investigate and then eat with relish.
In fact they stood on them, kicked them around and then ground them into the floor.
Strike corn on the cob !
Apples ? apparently hens love apples ! not mine they dont - I cut up daintily and serve in a dish ! dish tipped upside down apple ground into the mud !

Ok then veggies - not a chance until I give them mashed potato, mashed with butter and milk !
At last ! something they like - a lot !

And that of course was the key to treating my girls, they only like cooked veg and peelings ! they like a little olive oil drizzled over and if available a smearing of Onken strawberry and wholegrain yoghurt.
They do like corn but not on the cob thanks just in a dish with a few meal worms for garnish.

I learnt too that if you give them their extras in the morning they do not eat the pellets which they do need if they are laying as they contain all the nutrients they need so treats in the afternoon !

I also discovered that if you leave the food and water on the floor then you have to change and renew everyday as they kick it over and fill both containers with soil and grass etc - so what works for me is 2 painters can hooks on a bamboo cane pushed through the wire of the run, keeps it all off the ground .
Hens are very thirsty creatures so it is essential that they have access to water at all times, you are trampled in the rush for the water when you open them up in the morning so stand well back or wear wellies !

My children bought me a little book entitled
One Hundred Ways For A chicken To Train Its Human by Diane Parker - its highly amusing and here are a couple of them in regard to food which sums it up

"Dont be fooled by your human saying it is wrong to play with your food. Everything tastes better if you scratch it, stamp on it and move it around the floor first "

"Try to tip your food hopper up so that all the corn spills. That way your human will have to fill it more often !

HENS RULE OK !!