New here! Looking for fellow chicken-lovers in St. Louis (and MO in-general)...

[SavingHens]

UPDATE: There will be NO PAYMENT WHATSOEVER necessary to adopt any hens.

Hi everyone!

I was recently interviewed about my story, and it aired on our local news. The video can be found here: http://fox2now.com/2017/04/14/chicken-crusade-st-louis-woman-wants-to-save-farm-fowl/

"Saving the chickens" has always been a goal that is near-and-dear to my heart. So I started doing research to find a group in my area (St. Louis, Missouri) that works with factory egg farms to save battery hens as they're about to be "retired" (aka: killed). Approximately 300 MILLION hens are killed each year as a result of this practice. Such a waste...

Unfortunately, my search revealed there are no such groups anywhere nearby. There are some smaller groups on the coasts and up north. The biggest players in this game seem to be in the UK and Australia, where adopting battery-hens is a common practice. Farmers actually reach out to hen-saving groups about taking their retirees. Amazingly, there are waiting-lists and loving homes ready with open arms!

After finding out there were no groups nearby, my heart dropped. But instead of giving up, I decided to look for farms in the state and call around until I found one that would work with me. It was tough, but I finally found a place willing to allow adoption of their soon-to-be retired hens. So now my goal is to spread the word as far and wide as I can in an effort to find people who want to adopt them. I'm truly hoping for a good deal of interest so a large number will be saved. After living crammed in a small cage their entire lives, it would be the first time they ever saw sunlight, stretched their wings, felt the earth beneath their feet, and could move around freely. Just think how great it would be to get something started here in the Midwest...

About the hens I'm trying to rescue:

There are both brown and white hens (meaning brown and white egg-layers). They'll be approximately a year-and-a-half to two-years-old when retired -- sometimes younger. They will still be able to lay eggs, as hens can lay for up to 5 - 7 years of age -- it just won't be the frequency it would be in the factory. The conditions there are manipulated in a way that causes them to lay more often than normal. Some of them won't be the prettiest birds at first and will look a bit rough due to where they've been. But over time their feathers (and possibly beaks) grow back, their color returns, and their beauty will shine! They also tend to have very sweet and loving personalities...almost as if they're showing you they understand what you've done for them. When properly cared for, chickens can live up to 10 years, in some cases longer.

So, if I can, I'd like to encourage my fellow chicken enthusiasts to reach out and share this information with anyone you know who might be interested. If you yourself are interested, or would like to talk to me about this in more detail, feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected].

I would like to leave you with a link to a heart-warming video that highlights the benefits of adopting ex-battery hens:

Thanks to all in advance for your time and compassion!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, SavingHens, and

! Great to have you in our community! What awesome work you do!

Very inspiring! Thank, too, for the links you provided. You gave a lot of people a lot to think about and some hens another chance! Great work!

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Erica

Welcome!

Kudos to you for giving the girls a chance at a good life. As you mention, here in Aus, there are many rescue centres and lots of battery hens have been given a new, loving home.

I have shared my chicken beginnings story on BYC before but thought you might also like to read an extract from it ….

25 or so years ago, a long time before Bambrook Bantams was hatched, we purchased a property in Rural Western Australia. The property came complete with an empty chicken coop and run. Thinking “we can’t leave that empty”; we fixed it up a little and went out in search of new residents.

Note: this was my first experience with chickens.

We drove to a hatchery and purchased 6 by large White Chickens. Now, these White Chickens probably had a breed name but our total lack of chicken knowledge at this time resulted in them being White Chickens!.

These White Chickens were apparently well past their use by date at the tender age of 16 months and I hoped I was doing them a favour by rescuing them.

Anyways, got them home, popped the box into the run, opened the box and gently lifted out each girl and placed her on the ground.

What happened next still brings a tear to my eye to this day …. They didn’t move, they all stayed exactly where we had put them for at least 10 minutes. We tried giving them an ever so gentle prod; nothing, no movement. It was at this point we realised that, as a result of confinement in a tiny cage, in a hatchery, these gals did not realise that they could move!

Not long after our realisation, the gals had a realisation of their own in that their legs did have a purpose and from that moment on, they made up for lost time! These gals scratched, dug, explored, sun bathed, dust bathed and regardless of how nice we were to them, made use of those legs to ensure that we were never able to catch them!

Anyways, Good Luck and Best Wishes … I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hello and welcome to BYC - great that you have joined us

 

[drumstick diva]

More power to you

Hope others in the area will bail some battery hens out, and give them new leases on life. You would do better to post on your state thread, as most folks on this thread are scattered around the US, or other countries.

 

[SavingHens]

I couldn't figure out how!!!

Can you point me in the right direction? Then I will most definitely post this there as well. Thanks so much for the heads-up! I would have had no idea otherwise...

 

[drumstick diva]

Yes, just put "Missouri" thread in the search box above and it will come up for you. You could also try "St.Louis , Mo". in case there is one. You would "start a new thread," just like you did here.

 

[SavingHens]

I'll do it.

THANKS!

 

[SavingHens]

Telia,

Thanks for sharing your touching story. It's precisely why I am driven to do what I'm doing. My goal is to provide animals with no voice or choice the chance at a better life.

 

[SavingHens]

Latest updates below...

When will I be getting the hens? At this time I have no set-date. I should know more after Thursday of next week. The "higher-ups" will be meeting to hash out the details surrounding dates for the next cycle retirements and bringing in new flocks. Just to put it out there now, my plan is to bring the hens back to someplace like Tower Grove Park. It's a big enough common-area where you can come easily pick-up your hens. I'll need everyone to bring their own carriers or boxes to transport them home. Once a firm date is settled, I'll send out time options to get feedback on what works best.

Are the chickens vaccinated? Yes and no. A system is in-place to easily distinguish which birds are vaccinated, and which ones aren't. The vaccines cover Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG), Newcastle Disease, and Marek's (MD). They also never use live-vaccines. If you have a preference for NON-vaccinated birds -- let me know ASAP. Otherwise, I'll be asking for all vaccinated birds. For those who already have chickens, this will help to ensure their health isn't compromised. For those starting out, this will put you in a better position to prevent nasty health-issues in the future.

Are the beaks clipped? Yes. They do it with a laser when they're day-old chicks. It's only done once, and they still grow since there was no cauterization.