How to rehome battery hens
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Rehoming battery hens - What are ex-battery hens used to?
If you are looking to rehome battery hens, I guess you are already a long way down the road of thinking that keeping hens is a good idea. But how has life been for battery hens up to now? Understanding that will help you to work out how best to rehome your ex battery hens and to take care of any new recruits you have to your coop.
Up til now your new found ex battery chicken friends have not had a very happy time. They have been kept in cages around the size of A3 pieces of paper, with 4-6 other companions. Most, until their release haven't seen natural light, and are quite often kept in darkness to keep them calm and to stop them fighting under the stress. .
Battery hens usually come out of farms quite bald, and can be under weight. In winter time very bald ones may suffer form the cold. in certain circumstances people knit little jerseys for featherless hens! In the long term however, it is not a problem as rehomed battery hens which are well looked after will soon fatten and feather up with the right care.
What should I feed them?
Specialist ex-battery hen feeds are available. The best advice is to start off by feeding ex battery hens Layers Mash for the first week at least. This is what they have been used to for their entire life to date and they do not associate pellets or corn with food. if this is what they are presented with they may starve rather than attempt to eat the unfamiliar food. Once eating mash well from their feeders it is then possible to introduce pellets or corn if thats what you prefer to feed them. Alternatively you can simply maintain the status quo and they will happily continue to eat layers mash for the rest of their lives.
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How do I look after them?
Once you get your hens back home you will need to house them in a secure but well ventilated coop. This can be a funky city chic Eglu or a home made labour of love, it's up to you. They can then be let out the following day in a enclosed penned area, or run until they adjust to their new surroundings. Initially they will seem very frightened and quite ditzy.
Keep an eye on them to make sure they are drinking enough. Battery farms do not use bowls for drinking water, so your hens will not be used to drinking with their heads down. try raising the drinkers up a bit from groung level to help.
After shutting them in their hen house safely with a plentiful supply of fresh water and food for the first evening, you will be able to let them out into a small enclosed run the following day. Wait approximately a week before lettign them completely loose to free range, and ensure that they are coming home to roost at night and shut them in safely to avoid fox disasters.
All not well?
Organisations which specialise in rehoming ex battery hens are very careful to ensure that the transport of hens is kept as stress free as possible. They also try to ensure that only hens which are well are rehomed.
It is quite normal for ex battery hens to go 'off lay' and stop layign eggs for up to six weeks after being rehomed. This is nothing to worry about provided the hen is otherwise in good health. It will resolve itself in time and you can look forward to super fresh and tasty eggs for breakfast each morning.
However, inevitably rehoming engenders a certain amount of stress in the birds. If you feel a hen is particularly quiet, it is possible that she may be suffering from shock, thirst, hunger and/or exhaustion. Try dissolving 2 large spoonfuls of sugar into approximately 100mls of boiling water, leave it to cool fully and then using a medicine syringe, available form your local pharmacy, syringe around 10mls slowly bit by bit into hens mouth remembering to allow hen to swallow after each drop. This will give her an energy boost and you shoudl find that this is enough to get a previously lethargic hen up and about and eating again.
Egg breaking or egg eating
Ex Battery hens are clumsy when first out of farms, some have never seen their eggs before let alone laid them in straw nest boxes!
They may stand on them and break them accidently, if this happens they will eat them. Given time they will eventually learn not to stand on them. However, in the meantime:
- Remove the eggs quickly in morning - never leave eggs lying around
- Add mustard to the eggs to put them off eating them again
Egg eating can also be a sign of a hen's diet lacking in protein You could try feeding them something high in protein like sardines, or cat food
- Battery Hen Welfare Trust
The Battery Hen Welfare Trust aims to educate the public about the egg laying industry focussing on battery farming. We re-home battery hens across the UK. - Little Hen Rescue
Norfolk based poultry rescue, rescuing battery and barn hens, battery chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks. Contact to offer homes to any of our poultry, donate to our appeal, sponsor a resident hen. - Ex-Battery Hens Specialist Feeds
A range of feeds specifially designed for ex battery hens
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We have an acre of land which is due to house vegetable growing and chicken rearing. We want to rehome about 20 ex-battery hens and the hen house is already built. However we are not sure who to contact in Northern Ireland (Bangor) to source the chickens. Can you help? I have already contacted your two contacts as suggested above - is there any organisation in Northern Ireland? Many thanks. Wendy.
Very good article. I didn't know factory hens got rehomed, but I am glad someone is doing it. Poor things.
Has the previous question about rehoming hens in N Ireland not been answeredas i wouldalso be interested?????
Ditto the Northern Ireland question.
Would love to rehome some battery hens in Northern Ireland.
Hi - I have been looking into the question of rehoming hens in Northern Ireland and I confess I am also drawing a blank. Thanks for the question - anyone from Northern Ireland know anything different?
would love to rehome , but have 2 hens and a rooster , the rooster is a pekin and the hens a quite large how would i mix them all together ? please help . Look forward to your reply . Jackie .
Am also interested in the N.Ireland question
Joining the Northern Ireland quest for rehoming battery hens - maybe between us we can organise something?
Contact if intersted - gailburns@hotmail.com
hi, I live down the ards peninsula in northern ireland and rescued my hens from a battery farm near Ballywalter. It is mcclements egg company on ganaway road and anyone wishing to rescue a few girls and give them a good home can contact mcclements on 02891 862107 and ask for philip. They tend to let their hens go every couple of months so you can rescue pretty often. I have 20 now and just love them. Good luck with all who decide to give them a better life! Its so worth it.
i've just rang Philip from McClements egg company, he didn't have any hens available and started to question why i wanted to rescue battery hens as apposed to free range, he suggested that it was cruel to take a battery hen out of its environment and that people should be more concerned with rehoming free range birds.....Strange! so we still haven't been able to get any battery hens. Anyone out there that can help?
Hey Mervyn I have spoken to Philip McClements a couple of times but it never seems to be the right time for him to part with them but I have been since told if you just turn up at the farm he will sell them there and then. He sometimes gives you the choice of the 'retired' girls or the ones about to go into the battery farm. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place!! Anyway, I plan to get up in next week or two to see if i can get any. Will post here if I have sucess. Been looking for them for 4 months now!
To help combat egg eating, we also recommend putting a rubber egg in the nest box.
The rubber egg helps to guide the hens to where they should lay their eggs. And more importantly if the hens try to break into the rubber egg they find they can't so lose some interest in egg pecking.
However there is no real substitute for checking the nest box a couple of times a day and removing the eggs.
How can i find out where i can buy rescue Chickens as i would like to be able to buy these's instead of replacing my stock with the normal breed i buy.
Hi there,
I rescued some little Ex Batts in Northern Ireland just by turning up at a battery farm near Ballymena and asking the people who worked there if I could buy some.I went into the unit and the number of birds was absolutely overwhelming. Floor to ceiling little heads all pecking at the one time.They were quite happy about it and charged me £3 per bird - a little over compared to what they charge when they are gong for slaughter, but cheap at the price. It was one of the best things I have ever done and they were an absolute delight.Within a short time they get so tame and come running every time they see you looking for a little treat. They don't have a long life span due to the way they are genetically bred and can be prone to laying problems but I had them all for between 1 and 3 years but what a life they had!! They must have thought they'd gone to heaven.I am hoping to get more in the Summer - it is easer for them to adapt in the warmer weather.
Sharon
A few of us are trying to get a forum started about this on http://www.poultryni.com/ so wander over and support our goal!
A few of us here in NI are trying to get a forum started about this on http://www.poultryni.com/ so wander over and support our goal!
Nice and well researched article which i love and enjoyed reading from.
Nut House Hen Rescue & Re-homing
Hi, If you live in Northern Ireland please visit http://www.nuthousehenrescue.co.uk/ We are a new charity dedicated to rescuing and re-homing battery hens when the batterys are "depopulating" Our next rescue is in December and we need as many people as possible to rehome some of these wonderful girls. Thank you
wonderfull story has tought me alot ,we are raising ex battery hens until they are back on there feet and then we are selling them but we keept some because they are so amezing and loveing .the piir things have a great heart
Ex Battery Hens Forum 2 years ago
Our forum is there for anyone considering rehoming ex battery hens, or for those who already have. We are a friendly community offering help, advice and support on all aspects of chicken care.