[sheardale]

I just wanted everyone to know, I got a cockerel last night, and of the 10 ex bat hens I got yesterday, 4 of them laid an egg and 2 are still sitting.  I am delighted. 
Cheers Helen

[doganjo]

Hi Helen, were you at Phillipstoun too then?  I got 6 ex batts yesterday too - one egg on way home, 4 more this morning when I let them out.  Just going to take my lunch outside to watch them.
Here's a pic of the boss hen in that batch - what a mess she is!  And also one of the others just after I put them in their run.

[jameslindsay]

It is so awful to see any animal in such a state. Won't be long till you have them back to normal Annie.

[doganjo]

Just saw the dogs running for cover as we had a sudden deluge - not to their kennels or under the trampoline but to the conservatory door - easily seen they are house dogs first, kennel dogs second - they are all nice and cosy in there now.  As for those daft hens - they were all out in the front garden except the new ex batts - head girl stood out in it watching the original girls running under the big leylandii in the front paddock, the other 5 new girls stayed inside their straw filled shed!

[carrie]

how do you get the ex battery hens? who hands them over? how can they justify the state they are in?
why don't they have their photos on the egg boxes that are racked up in the supermarkets with a little note. this bald skinny ...you get the drift.? i know yours will
be fine, but it just sickens me.

[doganjo]

The Battery Hen Welfare Trust runs the system - www.bhwt.co.uk It is well organised and controlled.  But they do not ahve control over the state of the birds at the time they are taken out of their cages.
If you want an ex batt you have to register on the website and they will ask you if you have had hens before, and what your plans are as regards housing etc.  You are given information on the needs of these hens and on what to expect.  You are told that you take these hens to give them freedom, and if yu get eggs from them it is a bonus.Then you have to wait till the next collection date and the senior organiser for your area will contact you (usually by email these days) to let you know.  You then discuss with them how many hens you will have - there is a limit of 20 I think.  The hens are collected early on the first morning of the rehoming weekend or the evening before and they are then graded as to hospital cases or well enough to be re-homed.  The farm where they are kept for that weekend will most likely keep the hospital ones until they are well enough to have new homes or humanely destroy them if there is no hope for them.  Others that are too ill for even that are destroyed right away.  The caged hen 'farmer' is paid a sum for each hen rescued from him more or less equivalent to what he would get for their meat at slaughter - about £1 I think.  Usually they are around 18months, as at that point they can become a little erratic in their laying.  I don't know anything about how they are kept up to POL which is when they are put into their cages for that year.  The people who adopt these poor birds become adamant that this caging must be stopped - it is like a drug - once you have taken them in this state and seen how much they improve in such a short space of time - as little as a week - you become determined to take as many as you can give a little freedom and comfort to as you can.  Sometimes they only live a few weeks after release, sometimes a few months, but some live as long as 8 or 9 years.  I re-homed my ex batts when I moved down here rather than stress them by travelling 150 miles in my car, some of them were about 5 or 6 years old.  I have not been so lucky down here, I have lost 6 or 7 over a period of 2 years.  I will post photos over the next couple of weeks to let you see how they progress.  Until you adopt one or tow of these hens you cannot know what pleasure they can give.  They become so tame and friendly after the first day or two.  The scraggy one is actually very healthy and very perky - she just doesn't have any clothes!  She ate out of my hand tonight just as I put them to bed.

[knightquest]

Well done Annie both for rehoming and putting such a concise reply 

Ian

[sheardale]

I got my ex bat hens at Phillipstoun.  I am the one who knew a better way to get there and got lost. LOL.  I even stopped off at Linlithgow for lunch and a walk around the shops as I was in plenty time.  Then got lost and was up and down all the farm roads etc.  didnt get there till after 4pm, had to phone for directions.  I shall know the next time.  They are laying well.  8 eggs in total yesterday, and 4 so far today.  Hens are in a sorry state, but friendly.  I live near Dollar, so if you see some near naked birds going about there, well they are mine.  They should look better in a couple of weeks.  I am delighted with them.  I have 3 geese, 1 duck, 2 dogs and 2 cats 10 hens and a young cockerel.  They all get on fine.

[egbert]

Yours are in a much worse state that the 3 I rescued in April - I only had a quick glance in the shed when I picked them up but  didnt spot any really worn looking ones - although there was one hermaphrodite. 

 However mine were missing wing feathers, and were patchy. We lost one, and the other 2 stopped laying for 10 weeks or so.  Now, 3.5 months on they have had a moult, look absolutely beautiful with lovely bright feathers and markings, and are finally laying every day almost.

 

[doganjo]

If I thought I'd get off with putting a photo of Scraggy Aggie beside the caged eggs in the super markets without being jailed I would.  But I'm a bit of a coward!  They aer all now coming out of teh shed and eating and drinking so we are on ouir way.  Also have ducklings pipping in the incubator so off to have a look at them and to listen to them cheeping.