Battery chickens
Discussion
schmalex said:
Aaah, my parents are in Frome so not far away from there at all. 
cheers.I'm guessing Spot isn't a Bengal? My Bengall has a tail like a meerkat so her sausage roll is constantly on show.
schmalex said:
LOL. Spot is fine now. No more parading herself for all and sundry. The latest cat related disaster is Spot & Sparkle's daily slaughter of around 10 - 12 birds. mice, voles & shrews, which they then kindly place on my 6 year old's bedroom floor.
We got the chickens from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust - http://www.bhwt.org.uk/
Our local re-homing centres were either Southampton or Guildford, so we went for Guildford as I know a good pub just down the road from where we picked them up from for a pre-collection lunch. However, looking at their website, they do have a few places in the South West (Bristol, Midsomer Norton & Brent Knoll).
ETA. I'll try to get some pics up over the weekend.
That probably means that unless Spot is spayed she is probably pregnant!!We got the chickens from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust - http://www.bhwt.org.uk/
Our local re-homing centres were either Southampton or Guildford, so we went for Guildford as I know a good pub just down the road from where we picked them up from for a pre-collection lunch. However, looking at their website, they do have a few places in the South West (Bristol, Midsomer Norton & Brent Knoll).
ETA. I'll try to get some pics up over the weekend.
Edited by schmalex on Thursday 8th July 12:16
The BHWT were the ones that advertised in our paper, it worked for them, rehoming chickens is quite popular it seems
Spot & Sparkle are most definitely spayed. I'm having none of the shenanigans (or associated remedial actions that were suggested on here) that happened last June.
They just seemed to have decided to turn into some kind of cat Taliban & kill anything that moves as a gift for young Oliver, who it has to be said, is not overly pleased at the daily gifts.
They just seemed to have decided to turn into some kind of cat Taliban & kill anything that moves as a gift for young Oliver, who it has to be said, is not overly pleased at the daily gifts.
schmalex said:
Spot & Sparkle are most definitely spayed. I'm having none of the shenanigans (or associated remedial actions that were suggested on here) that happened last June.
They just seemed to have decided to turn into some kind of cat Taliban & kill anything that moves as a gift for young Oliver, who it has to be said, is not overly pleased at the daily gifts.
They just seemed to have decided to turn into some kind of cat Taliban & kill anything that moves as a gift for young Oliver, who it has to be said, is not overly pleased at the daily gifts.
. Thats good. At least they kill them and don't bring them in live for him to 'play' with.Edited by becksW on Thursday 8th July 13:07
Jasandjules said:
FlossyThePig said:
A story not related to our hens. A few years ago I worked with a chap who kept hens who said that when he saw them eating dog poo (bowdlerised text) he new the yolks would have a deeper colour!
And he still ate them?
Collected 3 ex battery hens yesterday and all have settled in already. Fascinating, as others have said, watching them get their first taste of the outdoor life after months in a grotty old industrial unit.
The guy from the Hen Welfare Trust that we picked them up from said there were over 600,000 in total at the one 'farm' that they collect them from. Changed in 200k lots when they slow down on the laying front.
We have a couple of cats who are both s
t scared of them so far.
The guy from the Hen Welfare Trust that we picked them up from said there were over 600,000 in total at the one 'farm' that they collect them from. Changed in 200k lots when they slow down on the laying front.
We have a couple of cats who are both s
t scared of them so far.Jasandjules said:
It disgusts me that battery farming is legal at all.
I worked a chicken processing plant and there lives aren't must better. It is weird we are supposed enlightened people yet treat animal who give there lives for us with so little respect. We are not talking about organic just a better quality of life before the chop.Edited by Thesprucegoose on Sunday 1st July 10:53
WE have had quite a few rescue Chickens over the years. They came completely bald not a feather in sight more like a Chicken you would get from a joke shop.
They would look up at the Sky as they wouldn't have seen it before it was quite sad but also fascinating to see how quickly they relaxed grew feather and laid lots of Eggs.
They would look up at the Sky as they wouldn't have seen it before it was quite sad but also fascinating to see how quickly they relaxed grew feather and laid lots of Eggs.
E31Shrew said:
Collected 3 ex battery hens yesterday and all have settled in already. Fascinating, as others have said, watching them get their first taste of the outdoor life after months in a grotty old industrial unit.
The guy from the Hen Welfare Trust that we picked them up from said there were over 600,000 in total at the one 'farm' that they collect them from. Changed in 200k lots when they slow down on the laying front.
We have a couple of cats who are both st scared of them so far.
The guy from the Hen Welfare Trust that we picked them up from said there were over 600,000 in total at the one 'farm' that they collect them from. Changed in 200k lots when they slow down on the laying front.
We have a couple of cats who are both s
t scared of them so far.Our rechargeables passed on a fair few years ago now so we are down to two older chickens now. Their rate of production is slowing to around 5 eggs / week each. I think we’ll let these live out their days without the stress of introducing any more.
Spot and Sparkle have been joined by Alan (a rescue cat). Having been separated from his mother at two weeks old, Alan is a complete bellend, but quite loveable.
The chickens still absolutely run the paddock and we’ve never had a cat / chicken interface
schmalex said:
E31Shrew said:
Collected 3 ex battery hens yesterday and all have settled in already. Fascinating, as others have said, watching them get their first taste of the outdoor life after months in a grotty old industrial unit.
The guy from the Hen Welfare Trust that we picked them up from said there were over 600,000 in total at the one 'farm' that they collect them from. Changed in 200k lots when they slow down on the laying front.
We have a couple of cats who are both st scared of them so far.
The guy from the Hen Welfare Trust that we picked them up from said there were over 600,000 in total at the one 'farm' that they collect them from. Changed in 200k lots when they slow down on the laying front.
We have a couple of cats who are both s
t scared of them so far.Our rechargeables passed on a fair few years ago now so we are down to two older chickens now. Their rate of production is slowing to around 5 eggs / week each. I think we’ll let these live out their days without the stress of introducing any more.
Spot and Sparkle have been joined by Alan (a rescue cat). Having been separated from his mother at two weeks old, Alan is a complete bellend, but quite loveable.
The chickens still absolutely run the paddock and we’ve never had a cat / chicken interface
Second egg laid today so that's 2 in 24 hours.
They are totally mesmerising! We've converted our old garden shed and built a run attached to it and behind a wood store. Besides scratching about for bugs they also spend hours digging holes and sunning themselves.
What age did yours live to?
The two that we have are about 4 years old. I guess we’ve averaged about 5 - 6 years before they whacked by fantastic Mr Fox, or make a break for freedom over the paddock fence.
Thinking of that, make sure you clip their wings. Take about a fingers width off the end of one wing on each bird. That’ll stop them from taking off. They don’t soar like eagles on the thermals, but can easily get up enough speed to clear a 4ft fence
Thinking of that, make sure you clip their wings. Take about a fingers width off the end of one wing on each bird. That’ll stop them from taking off. They don’t soar like eagles on the thermals, but can easily get up enough speed to clear a 4ft fence
schmalex said:
The two that we have are about 4 years old. I guess we’ve averaged about 5 - 6 years before they whacked by fantastic Mr Fox, or make a break for freedom over the paddock fence.
Thinking of that, make sure you clip their wings. Take about a fingers width off the end of one wing on each bird. That’ll stop them from taking off. They don’t soar like eagles on the thermals, but can easily get up enough speed to clear a 4ft fence
Thanks Schmalex. At the moment they all look as though they've been semi plucked anyway. I 'm not sure flight is on the horizon just yet!Thinking of that, make sure you clip their wings. Take about a fingers width off the end of one wing on each bird. That’ll stop them from taking off. They don’t soar like eagles on the thermals, but can easily get up enough speed to clear a 4ft fence
mangos said:
Thanks for bumping this thread.
I genuinely thought we didn’t keep hens like this anymore.
More marketing lies I’ve fallen for I guess
Shocking.I genuinely thought we didn’t keep hens like this anymore.
More marketing lies I’ve fallen for I guess
I always make sure the egg's that I purchase are free range.
Huge respect to the original OP and for anyone else giving these poor birds a chance.
Four weeks in and all going well. Averaging 1-2 eggs per day from these old birds!
Feathers all starting to come back.
Big today tomorrow as will let them in to the garden at about 8pm. They all wander back in to their coop by about 9pm at the moment so will see how it goes
All I all well worth every penny
Feathers all starting to come back.
Big today tomorrow as will let them in to the garden at about 8pm. They all wander back in to their coop by about 9pm at the moment so will see how it goes
All I all well worth every penny
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