My ex-battery hen's Before and After

[Oola]

Here's a picture of my hen Cynthia before and after her feather growth...she's now a beautiful, glossy little brown hen :)

[sunflower]

Oola, thanks so much for showing us the photos of Cynthia. She is Gorgeous!!!

[jazzactivist]

Cynthia looks great, Oola. What a 'makeover'. It only goes to show what care and an interest in animal welfare can do.

[Ivy]

How do ex battery hens cope in their natural surrounding. Are their instincts still working and are they not frightened by their outdoor life? I did not know that rescue hens were able to lead a normal chicken life if they were not taken as chicks.

[Oola]

Well our hens were the first lot of hens we've had, so they had no other 'naturalised' hens to learn from. When we first got them, it was just before Christmas of 2006, so was fairly cold outside. We housed them in a make-shift pen in the conservatory, where they got to find out how lovely it was to be able to drink whole mouthfuls, rahter than from the nipple of a plastic and rubber drip-feeder! They still occasionally use a bottle feeder that's tagged onto their run, but mostly prefer drinking from puddles or their big water bowls dotted around the garden.

At first we put in a bale of straw and a few cat carriers for them to go in and lay or sleep in. A couple of them took to finding hidey-holes wedged behind the straw bale to lay, but eventually they started going in their temporary nest boxes to lay. Yoko in particular got very broody and territorial to start with, as she'd never been able to have the sensation of sitting on her eggs before. But she got over this after a few days. During this time they were working out their pecking order - Pattie is at the bottom and at first didn't really understand that if she was pecked at she could actually move away from it. She just used to freeze, but eventually understood that she could move out of the way and walk off, so by all accounts it was quite a smooth process. Cynthia was the first to start scratching at the floor, so Rich dug up a big lump of earth with turf, and within a few days they'd all had a really good go at scratching it, and it had almost disappeared!

We also built a temporary roosting house - it was basically like a big pitched roof that sat over the cat carriers, with a home-made perch in it. One of them decided to use it straight away but the others needed some encouragement to learn how to walk up the straw bale to perch. But once they'd discovered it, it was like they'd rediscovered their instinct to perch at night.

I decided a couple of weeks later to take them outside, so we got their house (with drop down ladder to the perching area and nestbox) and extension run ready. I took them out one by one and they seemed quite delighted at all the new things to look at, and the ground to scratch. They went straight up to bed to perch without any hassle, so that was easy. They weren't frightened by anything, occasionally now they'll peer up at the sky if a loud plane goes past, or if they see a cat they'll stand tall but they're never really too bothered about anything.

I first started letting them out to completely free range only when I was there, usually digging. Now they have the run of our garden (smallest smallholding as I call it!). They love it when I dig and garden, as they all crowd around to try and eat the worms and scratch up the fresh ground that I'm either uncovering, raking over or digging up. They chat amongst themselves and all respect Yoko as the big boss, she occasionally has a go at one of the others if they're in the way but other than that they're a really good group of hens that obviously enjoy the space but do walk around loosely in a group. They mill about and do what they want, as they want, and have under their henhouse, a few hedges or the greenhouse to shelter in from the rain and wind if they want to. In summer they doze under the hedges where it's nice and cool, and I move their water bowls about during the day.

They've all discovered their natural instincts to stretch, flap, dust bath, perch, nest etc. by themselves. Only Yoko sleeps in the nest box at night now, but that's partly a comfort thing because she has sterile egg peritonitis and is a bit bloated. I think it just goes to show that they do know different, they're just not given the chance to display those natural behaviours that are apparently so inherent to them.

[Ivy]

What a lucky bunch of hens you've got. But it shows how cruel other ways of keeping hens really are if they remember how to react like an ordinary hen once given the chance... I know you are a vegetarian so what do you do with them? let them grow old and die peacefully?(when the day comes)

[Oola]

Yes they're basically just pets to us, that bring the bonus of fresh eggs that we either sell to friends and family or use ourselves. They cost next to nothing to feed and provide bedding for, and by selling the eggs they more than earn their keep in the household. It just takes a bit more time having to be there to pull the ladder up and put them away at night and let them out in the mornings (it's a bind that could overcome by building a henhouse with an automated door so we didn't have to get up so early in the summer to let them out at dawn), and clean up after them every now and again.

Rich isn't a vegetarian but there's no way he could use them as table birds! They're so individual with their different looks and personalities. They're completely wrong for eating anyway, laying birds, especially the ones bred for intensive farming, tend to be much more lean. They're not laying as much as they do in the summer, and I think now they're over 2 1/2 they're past their peak laying, which is why they're replaced by the farmer. They would have otherwise gone to slaughter by now, and a hen like Yoko who cannot lay anymore would have been despatched many many months ago, if it was just a matter of profit. They're just a few of the lucky ones, apparently there's over 20 million battery hens in the UK alone...

[Healing Hands]

Cynthia look lovely Oola, what breed is she? How do you manage if you go away or out for the day and not back in time to put them back in? Are you lucky enough to have some one to do this for you? Question I ask only because as I said in the other about about Hugh Chicken Run that I am thinking about getting some hens.

[Oola]

Cynthia and all the others are your basic battery hen - they're called something like ISA Browns, basically a hybrid of Rhode Island Reds and Rhode Island Whites engineered to be the most prolific layers I think. I'm not sure that's 100% accurate but that's the most info I've managed to find on the battery hen 'breed'.

I'm lucky that my mum lives not more than a couple of mins drive away, and my cousin and aunt live around the corner, so if we (rarely) go out for the day she can shut them up for the night for us. I return the favour by sometimes feeding her 5 cats if they're out! At the moment we have to manually let them out each morning, which at the mo isn't so bad because we have to get up about 7:30am. In the summer it's a pain because where they sleep is quite enclosed (they like it though), but when they wake up they can't really walk around inside, so we have to be up at dawn to let them out...in midsummer that's around 4:30-5:00am! But Rich is hoping to build a new henhouse with an automated door opener so we won't have this problem. They are a bind in the sense that you have to be around to get them up and put them away - although as I said putting away isn't as much of an issue - and I don't know how rural you are, but you do have to be diligent about foxproofing if you're going to let them completely free range, and also there's a knack to foxproofing large runs. I don't think we have many around here, we've taken measures to do our best and haven't clipped the girl's wings so they can fly upwards if need be. We decided to let them completely free range because they would scratch up the ground in the run so quickly, even with only 4 of them. We've had a couple of problems of them picking up bacterial bugs from the soil - which is a risk with any free ranging hen - but it's quite easy to treat and worming is just a matter of putting the powder in their feed or water every 6 months, so really easy.

The only other thing is planning holidays - again this wouldn't be too bad if we can manage to get the new henhouse built. We haven't been on holiday together in over 5 years, and the planned break we had booked for just 2 nights we couldn't do this year for other reasons, but at the mo we can't really disappear for more than 2 or 3 nights. Because we both work from home we can check the hens umpteen times a day, and are here to give them little extra treats like corn, catfood, cheese etc. throughout the day, although they tend to graze and then get just the one treat of pasta, rice or something in the late afternoon, which stops rumbly tummies through the night.

All that said, and despite the stresses of Yoko's ongoing condition (sterile egg peritonitis), I would not be without them, they are so funny, lively, and chatty, and just watching them go from quiet, sad little pale baldy creatures into what they've become has been a joy.

[Ivy]

I was asking because I could never eat an animal I knew .

[Oola]

Well I know for sure I couldn't, and although Rich is very pragmatic and philosophical about these sorts of things, I don't think he could either! :)

[fife]

We keep a small flock of lambs that are eventually sold for meat we keep the breeders, we care about our sheep and lambs and when some are not good mothers the children will bottle feed them i hate it when my husband has to take them to the in human abotours (not sure if that is spelt correctly) the children are always sad as well i know that we care for these animals and it is lovely watching the lambs play in the spring and in the sunshine. I have not eaten lamb since i have meet my husband as i just can't seperate lamb from a lamb and actually my husband since then doesn't eat lamb either which for a farmer means he has a heart i think?

[Oola]

Well it's so good to know that there are farmers and their families out there that care that much for the animals they're rearing.

[sunflower]

For three years now I have been wanting hens, and if you remember all of you were really encouraging in your replies because I have been sitting on the fence and creating 'what ifs' in my head all year.
Well, anyway, yesterday I contacted the rescue battery hens team and hopefully will speak to her tomorrow over the phone. I have been looking everywhere for a 11 foot or 12 foot run for my future hens all year. The runs are usually no more than 6 foot which I think is'nt suitable. The only down thing now is that, now I've made the decision, Abbotsbury....where the rescue hens are the nearest to us have an outbreak of Avian flue with the swans!!! But I am still interested and looking forward to speaking to this person tomorrow. I think that I feel I'm not suitable and will let them down......I have a real fear of this, and yet I want them so much. So please send positive thoughts my way. I have asked for 2 but she has suggested 3 because of their possible shorter life span

[Oola]

Honestly, I had no prior experience with hens and they had no probs with me taking them on, they just asked what we had to house them (forsham ark) and whether we had heat lamps, so they knew who could have the baldest hens. It was all pretty straightforward, so I am almost without a doubt that when they're ready you'll be the proud owner of some lovely chooks :)

If you have space, I would go for 4 hens if you can. I have 4 and it's a great because they tend to pair off around the garden. To be honest, when you've got more than 2, it doesn't really make that much difference! Well, that's what I've found anyway. Foodwise they're REALLY cheap to feed, they start with layers mash and then you can slowly introduce them to other things like greens and mixed corn, and the bedding at the moment is our free local newspaper and straw which costs something like £1.20 for a big black bag full.

So yes, I'm sending you positive thoughts, I'm sure all will work out ok :) x

[Ivy]

Sunflower why should you be more unsuitable than the next person?. You gave the idea a good thought and obviously took more care to think about the pros and cons than some women before they have a child!
Go for it.

[Healing Hands]

Thanks for all the info Oola. Do you know of any good books to buy on keeping Chooks?

I do not think I will be having a holiday this year but if I do I am sure I could ask my next door neigbour.

[Oola]

Yep I have a selection...

The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow is one that I have to hand here, the others are upstairs so I'll get the list to you when I'm not being too lazy to walk up two flights of stairs :) :)

[Healing Hands]

Thanks Oola that would be a great help. :)

[Oola]

It's funny really, we were in Waitrose today and Rich was offered a taster of their Chicken Korma ready meal. I asked if they were free range chickens and we got talking about the programmes that have been on and about our hens. Turns out the lady doing the taste testing keeps hens as well and was asking about where we got ours from, how they're not a problem with the vegetable garden etc. It's encouraging to know how many people keep hens these days, seems to be an increasing trend.

[fife]

I remember not long ago sainsbury's being fined for not labeling there curry ready meals properly they were adding european chicken and not telling consumers. Oola what do you house your hens in, we kept getting the fox taking ours up until about six months ago when we purchased a hen house and my husband modified it to keep the foxes out touch wood we wont have a problem now.

[Oola]

Fife, we have a Forsham Ark - http://www.forshamcottagearks.com/poultry-housing/boughton902-poultry-house.htm

They free range all day, and then at dusk soon after they've all gone up we pull the ladder up so they're safe. We've also fitted an extra safety latch on the nestbox so a fox couldn't scrabble at the existing switch latch and open it up at the side. So all in all it's as safe as it can be!

[sunflower]

Oh Oola, do'nt put a spoke in the wheels!! I already have chosen names for three hens after my favourite children's authors. Enid,(Blyton) Beatrix(Potter) and Lucy(Maud Montgomery...Anne of Green Gables) No seriously, it is'nt the cost of having 4 hens, rather the space. The news has been full down here of the Avian flu in Abbotsbury. There is so much to consider. Anyway, I'm on the waiting list and I guess we will make the final decision then. You are right Ivy. I have spent more time over the past three years thinking about this than thinking about future pregnancies(in the past of course)!!

[sunflower]

So Oola, hope you do'nt mind me asking you some questions about your hens. Firstly, do you have foxes in your area? Also, do you allow your hens to free range only when you are in the garden, then put them in the run when you go inside? Or maybe can you keep an eye on them through your window? You see, I'm trying to imagine how I would manage my hens so that they would be kept safe. I used to think that it would be good to clip their wings, now I think that having unclipped wings, gives them a chance to escape from predators. Do you have alot of birds visit your garden? I'm also concerned about birds carrying diseases. I'm seriously thinking of having a cover, like hard plastic which lets in daylight over the run to protect the hens from bird droppings.

[sunflower]

Sorry Oola, I have read all your replies to this thread and I think you have answered my questions.

[Oola]

It's ok sunflower - hope you got all the answers you need :) I too have worried about wild birds and my hens, they mingle together happily, but until the authorities say otherwise, all I do is make sure the feeders and birdbaths are clean to prevent disease and just keep an eye out. We've not had any reports of HN51 near here as yet (touchwood) so I see no reason to stop them free ranging completely.