| Things have improved a little for Battery hens over | | | | trimmed beaks. |
| the years but it is still the case that millions of | | | | - Toe nails : Having lived on a wire floor for so long |
| chickens spend their lives in a cage too small for | | | | there is a good chance that they will have very long |
| them to do their natural chickeny things such as | | | | toe nails; they will usually wear down on their own, |
| walking about and pecking for grain, or to stretch, | | | | but if the length is excessive, you can and should |
| flap, dust bathe and roost. They are usually given | | | | trim them. |
| about 2 years before they are considered 'spent' | | | | - Missing Feathers : You'll also find that battery hens |
| hens. It is at that point they are removed from their | | | | will often have some feathers missing - particularly |
| cages - there are always more to take their places. | | | | around their neck and chest due to the repetitive |
| The 'spent' or ex-battery hens are then usually sold | | | | action of reaching through a feeder fence to get to |
| on - as you might imagine the fate of a lot of these | | | | their trough of food. Boredom and neighbours are |
| hens is in some kind of cheap processed food, but | | | | other causes of featherless patches. |
| farmers are often open to letting them be re-homed. | | | | Although the above issues could have led to pain and |
| If you have the facilities and the resources to | | | | infection in some of the hens, it is very unlikely that |
| re-home battery hens, you'll find that the experience | | | | you will be given any that have any major problems - |
| can be a very rewarding one, but it is important to | | | | as far as possible rehoming organisations will always |
| understand a few things about the birds that you will | | | | do their best to only pass on healthy ones that can |
| be adopting and homing. | | | | really benefit from a second chance at life. In most |
| In the first place, you should understand that a | | | | cases any issues will be essentially superficial and |
| battery hen is unlikely to be in prime physical | | | | easily overcome with a little t.l.c. - feathers grow |
| condition, and it can take a few months to get them | | | | back, toe claws can be worn (or possibly trimmed |
| to a point where they are looking and feeling like a | | | | with dog nail clippers - let them settle in before |
| healthy free range chicken - but they can get there! | | | | handling too much though), and pale combs redden |
| There are several, essentially aesthetic issues, that a | | | | and reduce as these undernourished hens start to |
| battery hen might have; | | | | taste a bit of 'the good life'. |
| - Beaks : The first and most obvious issue is that of | | | | The life expectancy of an ex-battery hen can vary - |
| a trimmed beak. In the battery system, a hen will be | | | | you may be giving her a few months, perhaps a few |
| debeaked by a hot machine knife. A debeaking is | | | | years. However long she has outside a cage is great, |
| permanent, but in the majority of cases it will not | | | | as she will no longer have to be an egg laying |
| affect your new hens ability to peck about - if for | | | | machine but can have a real life - a life that she |
| some reason it did, then mash rather than pellets as | | | | would otherwise never have known. You will be |
| their feed would help (and is probably what they | | | | rewarded by more than just the eggs you get, as |
| would have been used to). Food and water dishes | | | | you watch her develop and grow in health and |
| may also need to be a little deeper to allow for | | | | confidence before your eyes. |