[kitchen cottage]

I was after some ex battery hens earlier in the year and registered with a number of the rehoming charities.  I didn't want them for eggs, just for them to have a bit of a life after having been a battery hen.
 
With the battery cage ban now in force, does that mean these charities will no longer have Hens, none came back to me! 

[Dans]

I wouldn't have thought so. Although the new rules mean that the chickens will be less cramped the battery hens are at the end of their working lives and facing the chop. I would assume that the chickens will still be bumped off when production drops and that these organisations will still be rehoming them. Also just because they aren't as cramped doesn't mean that they are much better off than traditional battery hens.

HTH

Dans

[bloomer]

there are still plenty of intensive systems out there who will get rid of their stock at 12-18months old so there should be plenty to be re-homed still, a lot of the groups only get birds a couple of times a year but when they do get them they get plenty and call everyone on their lists...

[Fowlman]

Sadly it was only a minor win regarding battery cages, cages are just a little bigger now so they still have a life of hell. There are plenty still needing new homes.

[Dans]

If you're anywhere near Dumfries Homes 4 Hens regularly have rescues.

Dans

[in the hills]

We rehomed some ex-batts in Jan. I think they were some of the last ones from the old caged system. In my opinion the hens are not much better off now with the new caged system.


We re-homed via BHWT and I think it took a few weeks before they got back in touch after my email to them. I got a telephone call from them a few weeks before they were re-homing a batch of hens locally to me.


A big free range system near to me are now selling off their present batch of hens. They are a pound each. A neighbour had some of their last batch and was pleased with them. In fact they were laying better than some hybrid pullets that she purchased at a similar time. This maybe another option.

[ellied]

My understanding is that in order to comply with the new legislation at the start of the year, many commercial places culled all their birds, gutted the complex and refurbished to meet new requirements, rather than having a regular turnover barn by barn.  It would be cheaper that way with one contractor coming in for a large job too.

So restocking for 1 January 2012, most birds will not be spent until the end of the year at least, possiby next summer depending on the policy on turnover/replacement age..  I would imagine there are thus fewer birds available for rehoming tho there will still be some from facilities that were less intensive or managed through inhouse staff to secure the changes in cage size etc in advance of January.

[kitchen cottage]

   Not great news for hens then.
 
I'm not in a rush, I have nine of my own hens, so I'll just wait until they get in touch.

[omnipeasant]

Any improvement must be better than none at all. After all some idiots keep dogs in little cages for a large part of the day. I hope eventually it will be all barn or free range hens.

[FiB]

I'm getting ten from BHWT at end of July - so definately still operating.   They do sometimes take a while to get back to you though - try giving them a ring. 
Good luck, its very satisfying to help them turn from looking oven ready to full feathered healthy hens and our last lot laid lots of massive eggs (poor things) untill the fox got them .

[plt102]

Try the british hen welfare trust. We got ours from there x

[tizaala]

Our local  egg farm changes his free rangers every 15 months when production drops off, normaly about 5ooo birds, he sells a few off to locals for a  £1 each, then the waggon comes and disposes of the rest , if they cant fit them on the waggon he usually  just turns up with a few and chuck them in with mine for free, worth asking at your egg farm.
 

[hughesy]

Three cheers for anyone who takes the trouble to rehome a few of these poor birds. But don't forget the other 20 million that end up as fertiliser. The industry has pulled off a massive con on joe public most of whom think that the battery cage system no longer exists and that all the eggs in tesco come from an idyllic farmyard somewhere in utopia.

[Fowlman]

Spot on hughesy, the sheeple are so ignorant of where their food comes from it's unbelievable.

[in the hills]

Yes, I've had several people tell me that there aren't any caged birds anymore.


When I explained the new cages they were shocked      . After the news headlines and what not, they had just assumed all hens were now free ranging and living happy lives outdoors.