My new chicken girls are here!

[juicylucy]

Teasal a horse box will be fantastic

[wendy]

Definately. another
Wendy

[Chicken on the Hill]

i have volunteered my services to Carly, for October when the next rescue is due. I have a transit van, and am happy to do all I can. I am in the North east of Lincolnshire. My time costs nothing, and I have been told fuel costs are covered, but if I can help out here too I will do. What has been said is right-people don't realise the plight of battery hens. I have a friend who is expecting free eggs when I get my ex-batts. She openly admits she eats battery chickens based on that they were bred for food and that's how she sees them. Well, she will find herself being charged for the eggs, so that the money can be donated to charity to help ex-batts. That way it gives her conscience a shove, bit she feels like she's doing something, and she doesnt take me for granted either. Hugh fearnley-whittingstall brought a lot of peoples attention to intesive chicken meat farming, but to be fair we all know that the situation is much more dire that he portrayed. I have a neighbour who worked at a chicken farm, and the situation is much worse, with chickens living in a mixture of sawdust and dead chickens. When he bent down to scoop up chickens, he came into contact with the rotting flesh of chickens. Those that were culled on 'Hugh's chicken run' was a demonstration of how some farms arent actually run. His farm was a model best. An ideal. But still a poor ideal. No animal should be intensively farmed.

[lou]

Thanks Wendy have offered mine and hubbys time/car etc xxx

[Morgs]

Yup - I have offered to help with transport from the factory farm to a co-ordinator too. After what I saw at Bristol last night...well,words can't express it. I noticed how pale these were too. Mine all need their claws cutting. They have come out of the coop tonight, but put my two current old ex batteries in a right bad mood...

[Teasal]

The claws are an amazing length - I have not attempted to cut them yet as the poor girls have been traumatised enough already, and need time to settle. With being out in the sunlight, their combs have already started to turn from white to red, although still very big.

I have lost count of how many times I have replaced the water today. They seem to have no idea about water containers, except that they are for paddling in! I think they have also had the layers mash dry - which must have been awful - because I fed it dampened for them and it took them a while to realise it was for eating ......

[juicylucy]

The little darlings have the layers mash dry in the farm..it kind of goes along on a little conveyor belt and they have to stretch their necks out through the wire to get at it. Also their water bowl..yes just one of them per cage ..was attached quite high up on the wire so they had to stretch to reach that too.
It wont take them long to realise that the water is for drinking and not paddling..as you say they have no idea really bless them.
Regarding the long claws..i think the majority of the girls we got out had really long claws.
Just check that the claws aren't curling round and piercing into their little feet..if they are they will need to be cut straight away..otherwise give them a few days to gain a bit more trust in you and then it will be a lot easier and less stressful to them to get them clipped. xx

[nettles]

Carly and others did a wonderful job with the latest rescue hens. Like some of you I was amazed that they survived the heat on Sunday. We have four of them and they are in alot worse condition than our first batch last November. One of them is not only bald but is the smallest chicken I have ever seen, she is minute, about half the size of the usual. She is very feisty though, and still very scared, but a survivor.

I am so angry about all this, if I did this to a chicken I would be in court, and rightly condemned. Our government has made it legal to do it to millions.

But ours made it and will now have a good life, not that it will ever compensate what they have been through. It's down to all of us that care to do our bit, even if it is something little, we do make a difference.

[kattcollins]

We were the last to pick up our hens from Bristol on sunday night, we took 11 home and honast to god when we put them in the shed for the night I couldn't stop looking at them, half of them weren't too bad the other half were awful but what strook me was they all had this look on their faces like death, vacent eyes and so so quiet, but on a positive note, when we let them out into the garden enclosure monday within an hour they started perking up and hour by hour they got better and better, a couple of them even started having a dirt bath with the pile of peat I put in, well all have gone now to other homes bar 3 that we will keep, I kept the strongest, the very weakest and the one that let me stroke her, today they are having a quiet day staying out of the rain in there house but I think they deserve a quiet day as they are probably so confused as to what has happened to them over the last few days

BIG HUGE THANK YOU TO CARLY AND ALL HELPERS, YOU WILL SURELY GO TO HEAVEN FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE

[nettles]

I think we met, I was the loony in the shed putting them in boxes for you, sorry we didn't get time to chat, it was a bit manic wasn't it?

I hope they are all ok,
If you are ever over this way give me a ring and I will make a coffee (ok, a cider!)

xx

[kattcollins]

Hi Nettles, we picked ours up from Caroline in Backwell, everyone had gone by the time we got there, would love to come up for a Cider though

Big thank you to Caroline too

[nettles]

I think I've lost it, I met quite a few people in Westerleigh but didn't get time to introduce each other.

Do come up for a cider...anytime..

NB: Here's the photo of little Maggie, the chook I was so shocked by. So far getting stronger but so thin it defies belief. She actually looks worse in real life than on the photo, she's a bit like a road runner at the moment...asleep or running everywhere!

[stace]

Oh nettles


She is 1 of the lucky ones!!!

hope all goes well for everyone that got ex batts this weekend!!!!


stace

[lorraine]

OMG, bless her, that's so shocking. She's assured a lovely life from now on though

[juicylucy]

Oh she is a total darling..well done for taking some girls..just breaks your heart doesn't it? x