This news article details what a mammoth (but achievable) task Little Hen Rescue have in successfully rehoming 10,000 battery hens. The hens are due for slaughter unless they’re homed, as the farm is closing.
If you are considering having hens (and if you are, don’t hesitate to contact me with any queries or advice), have room for a few more, or know someone that can take them on, please get in contact with me or visit http://www.littlehenrescue.co.uk/ to organise your rehoming. Don’t forget there’s a thriving community and an amazing amount of support for new and experienced henkeepers alike at www.exbatteryhens.com so once you take on your girls, you’ll not be alone!
Keeping ex-batt hens in particular is so rewarding, it can have its challenges (as can any pet), but you’ll never tire of the daily egg hunt, the soft clucks and turn of phrases. If you’re a bit sensible, they won’t wreck your garden - in fact, they’re one of the best defences against slugs and bugs! They get on fine with cats. They’re cheap to feed and will come to you when called. And they’re great with kids (as long as children don’t chase and poke). They can put themselves to bed (some will take a couple of weeks or so to learn to do this), and when you go on holiday, if you’ve got a secure run, they’re easy for a neighbour or friend to look after. I can guarantee that rehoming ex-battery hens will prove to be one of the most positive moves you and your family will take.
And of course, watching them progress from sad, pale, scraggly, thin and slightly bewildered animals to glossy-feathered, chatty, active, healthy ladies is an absolute joy. I can’t put that point across enough. Seeing them taking their first dust bath, chasing insects, hearing them purr (yes, really!), learning to scratch, living the life of a real chicken is something you’ll always remember. And don’t forget the fresh eggs - until you’ve tasted or cooked with PROPER home-produced free ranged eggs, you won’t realise what rubbish you’ve been buying at the supermarket.
But of course, that won’t happen for these girls if they’re not found homes. No, the last moments of their miserable lives will see them packed off to the abbatoir, strung up by their ankles on a conveyer belt and killed. What a life, eh? That’s not me guilt tripping people into getting hens - that’s just the stark, uncomfortable, sad reality.
But YOU can make the difference between that sad existence, or a life of up to 7 or 8 years spent living the way they SHOULD have always had. YOU can give them that.
So if the thought has just flitted across your mind for a nano-second, why not just take a chance and do it? I did. Go on, go to www.littlehenrescue.co.uk and sign yourself up for a few girls. It literally changed my life. In a very good way.
Let me know if you make the leap!
May 10th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Awww i hope they all get homes. We got 4 ex batts last weekend so we cant really accomodate, but i’d recommend them to anyone. They really are fantastically curious animals with their own individual personalities. And they do produce gorgeous eggs. I still get excited to open the coop and find an egg.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I would love to keep ex batt hens (we have so much space it would be fantastic) and bees, but I have Beagles, who would munch the chickens for brekky, and Mr Veg is allergic to bees. Bugger.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Thanks for putting this up Lucy! We’re trying very hard to find homes for all these girls, but it is a mamouth task as we all have jobs as well!
I keep looking at my lot and wondering if I could squeeze a few more in!
Hope you’re ok and not missing your lovely girls too much.
xx
P.S A not for the above message - I have a terrier that wanted to eat my hens and got quite close on one occasion (bad idea to have a dim sister on door duty with the hens out!) He now can be left on his own in the garden with them, it just takes a bit of time and a lot of consistancy!
May 15th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
thanks for advice Anna! With 3, one could slip past me and uh-oh…..! New next door neighbours have just got some chickens, so see how they do with them! Cat x
May 20th, 2009 at 9:19 am
I love that last picture!
All our girls are ex-batts - they do have their issues but the thought of the life they had compared to now makes it all worthwhile.
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Thank you so much for doing this for the hens! I’m in Miami, Florida and don’t have space (or zoning) for chickens (wish I did!), but I’m spreading the word! Keep up the great work!
May 29th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
how do i adopt a hen? i would take one in myself i have a flat but my mum has a garden, how do i get one?/pick one up?
June 8th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Hi there,
i live in stanstead abbots, ware, herts and am looking to adopt to ex batt chickens as soon as poss. i can travel to pick them up. i have an eglu being delivered in 2 weeks and wondered if you are able to help me. i have a medium sized garden. thanks for any help you can give me.
June 10th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
I have signed up to take on a few hens, the family and I are so excited. Will be off to get my house & run as soon as we hear back from Little hen rescue, I think what they are doing is fantastic. If anyone has any tips for me they would be most welcome, we have never had hens before, but have been thinking about it for the past year, once we heard about the LHR plight, we felt that now was the time to take the plunge. Can’t wait to hear from them, check my emails twice a day, in hope. Do they contact you by email or phone, does anyone know???
June 16th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
hi, i live in fort william,scotland and am desperate to rehome 3 or 4 hens for company for my one remaining chook. can you advise who i can contact up here to help?
any help appreciated,
thanks sharon.
June 17th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
In reply to the last message - Jo at Little Hen Rescue will answer your emails eventually but bear in mind she has a lot of rehomers to deal with (enought o rehome 10000 hens!) Be patient and it will be well worth the wait. We keep ex-bats and also volunteer our services to LHR occasionally. If you can’t rehome hens but would still like to help them PLEASE offer to volunteer with rehoming days if you live in Norfolk - you will find it very rewarding.
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Hi,
we have recently given thought to keeping some hens. Not having kept hens before but having rescued animals I am interested in whether a complete beginner could be considered suitable for rehoming.
We live in south west scotland. Can you help me as to who we could contact around here. I am doing as much research as poss but any advice would be welcome.
thanks Debra
July 7th, 2009 at 1:46 am
Hi, my name is Anthony Berry and I live in a house with a huge back garden that backs on to a field. It is a very nice, green area close to Simister Farm Village, Prestwich, Manchester.
We have sufficient housing for at least ten hens who would be comfortable, clean and warm as the cabin in the garden is connected to the eletricity mains.
They would have plenty of space to roam around and it would be a joy to nurse and look after them.
Please contact me.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
hello aww this website was so helpful, we live in beccles and are looking to rehome some girls from nearby so if anyone knows of any that need rehoming in our area could you please let me know thanks so much!!
July 9th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Hi
I am looking to rescue about 10 battery hens for a small holding in Lancashire can you help?
Regards George
October 24th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Hi, I live in a rural area and have a peice of land by the side of my house and have recently fenced off some land and bought a chicken coop and would like to rescue some ex battery hens having researched the awful conditions these poor birds live in whilst doing a course in animal management.I live near guisborough in cleveland and wondered if I could help or if you could put me in touch with somebody close who could-thanks
October 25th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Hi there
I know of a few fantastic organisations that work nationwide:
Battery Hen Welfare Trust http://www.bhwt.org.uk (although BHWT may have a long waiting list)
Free At Last Hen Rescue: http://free-at-last.org.uk/
Hen Rehomers UK: http://www.hr-uk.info/
Little Hen Rescue: http://www.littlehenrescue.co.uk/
Also the ex-battery hen forum has loads of members who either run battery hen rescue organisations (including the above), or are directly involved in assisting with the rescues: http://exbatteryhens.com/index/
They’ll be able to give you tonnes of info and advice.
It’s free to join and also a brilliant source of information and support for ex-batt keepers.
Hope this helps, please do let me know how you get on
Thanks
Lucy
Smallest Smallholding
October 31st, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Hello all you lovely people out there. Does anyone know where I can obtain some ex-battery chickens to give a new home to in Northern Ireland (Bangor) to be precise? Wendy Beggs
November 5th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Hi enquiring how to rehome battery hens, my brother has looked after hens for 20yrs and has got a large pen with cabins and could rehome about 30 hens. Ive tried ringing and e-mailing people and getting knowhere, if you could give me a phone number or e-mail address I would be grateful. I would like to have some ASAP before winter.
Thanks Karen.
November 6th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Wendy,
I also live in Co Down and have ten lovely ex battery hens. They are fantastic pets, easy to look after and are so theraputic to watch. Not to mention everyone comments on how beautiful the eggs are and they are always in demand!!! I call my chicks the “golden girls and they have fabulous personalities.”
If it helps u I got mine from a battery farm in N Ireland. What you could do is to buy the Newsletter paper with the farming life section on a Saturday and you will find the ads for hens in the classified section. I got mine from there and the hens were £2.00 each. I had to go to Sixmile Cross for them near Dungannon.
Good luck with it and I hope you save a few wee precious lives.
Cheers
Roz
January 14th, 2010 at 10:19 am
Hi there
We got 3 hens in September but only 1 has made it through and she is now very lonely….we are in desperate need to get her 2 pals (we only have space for a total of 3 hens) but most of these site only offer 3 as a minimum…any ideas?
Thanks
Angela
February 18th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Hi I am thinking of rehoming some ex battery hens, is there any advive you can offer me. Also I would like to volounteer in any way I can and get more involved in rescuing the hens. I have sectioned off half of my garden for a vege patch and a coop for hens what is the best building that would be fox and dog proof? Can anyone help me on this info, I run a full time petcare company in the epping forest area and would like to help out any way I can? Thanks louise
March 27th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
hello we are looking to rehome 3 hens we live in epping,essex do you no the neariest place to get some ex battery hens ??
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:36 pm
hellooooo
we are loking to rehome 4 hens at our home we have already bought and built our coop where could i get 4 of these 10000 hens xx
April 19th, 2010 at 9:59 am
Like Gemma 2/4/2010.- I have room for 3 in brand new accomodation how do i get them please
preferably without long distance travel
April 19th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Hi,
We want to rehome 6 hens but we live near Dublin we can go into Northen Ireland do you know where we can go?
April 20th, 2010 at 9:41 am
hi
i will rehome a few
need to get a henhut and wheres the nearest place to bolton to get them?
April 21st, 2010 at 1:12 pm
We are set up for 3 ex-bats. When and where is you nearest collection ?
Steve
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Yep we will give a lovely home to 3 or 4 of them and where can we collect from, we live in Wigan
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Hi, I would like to give 6 of the little beauty’s a loving home cause the special ones are just as important. I’m experienced with chickens and can offer a superb quality of life.
Live in sandy, beds….could we arrange to collect?
April 25th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Hi could you tell me where we can get some ex batts and how much thay are each got a three acre field to house some we live in south yorkshire/north lincolnshire area
April 27th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Hi, I have 2 laying chickens at the moment and would like to adopt an other two can anyone tell me how to get them I live in Fife Scotland.
May 1st, 2010 at 9:21 am
I could home about 6 hens, details please. I live in Bedford
May 1st, 2010 at 7:44 pm
I live in colchester and i do not drive” i have been looking for months for 6 chickens, i would love to re-home some. But as i do not drive and there are no local pick ups in my area i am now thinking of giving up on having chickens as its just to difficult to find any near me.
May 2nd, 2010 at 7:14 am
I live in Northern Ireland and would love to rehome at least 3 of these lovely girls, have searched the net and cannot find any rescue centres for battery hens here. Is there any way I could do this?
May 6th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Can you help? I would love to keep a couple of chickens, but I am worried about looking after them properly. My main concern is that I don’t want to leave them in a run all day whilst I am at work. Is it O.K. to open the run door for them first thing in the morning and then put them to bed in the evening when I get home from work? This isn’t until about 6 each evening - does it matter that it is quite late and dark by then in the winter? Also- will they eat my garden plants? Any info would be great.
Thanks
May 9th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Yeah I would love to help I could house at least 20 hens on this bit of land I have they will be allowed to Rome free during the day and at night they will have a big 16ft shed to go on at night.
May 12th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Sandra and anyone looking to rehome ex battery hens in Northern Ireland. There are no rescue centres so you need to go to a local egg supplier who will sell u hens. The nearest one to my home is on the Ganaway Road, Ballywalter, Clements Egg Supplier. The owner Philip Clements is the man you will need to speak to. He has a massive turnover, and lets hens go every couple of months. He can be contacted on 02891 862107.
I have already been through this process, have rescued 20 beautiful hens. Good luck Sandra hope this helps.
May 12th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
PS Anyone who wishes help or advice on hen keeping, rescuing hens (I am in Northern Ireland) is welcome to email me on Rozz1@tiscali.co.uk (please no junk mail, get enough of that!)
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:44 pm
I rang Philip Clements and got 6 little red hens…now starting their new lives at Scrabo…A good guy to deal with
May 24th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
i wouldent mind re homeing a few battery hens
May 25th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Hi - about to complete on a purchase of a house which has a 100ft garden in middleton manchester and partner has agreed i can have some chickens. (woohoo) there is a large shed on the land which the owner kept guiniepigs in and alerady has a run attached to. will this be ok to convert into a hen house? if so what do we need to add to it to make it comfy for the girls? He is a joiner and so can make any of the necessary adjustments. i would like 4.
May 25th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
interested in some hens 3 or 5 only though can you advise
May 25th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
hello its me again im up here in derry and i would ent mind rehomeing 100 hens
June 5th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
I can rehome six hens,i live in Carmarthen West Wales but i dont know where to go locally.Please can you help.
June 8th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
I have has ex batt hens for 4 years and sadly lost one 2day, I live in Stirlingshire and is looking for a lonley hen to join my lonley hen,as now she is on her own….so sad! been intouch with BHWT but no release dates, can any one help my lonely girl, even though about re-homing her with some one else’s hens.
June 11th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
i would be, very interested in 8 ex battery hens please i live in llanpumsaint near carmarthen
June 13th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Hi i am in the process of adopting some chooks. I used to keep some years ago and want to get back into them. I would like views on chickbox the plastic boxes i’ve seen advertised, are they as good as they seem or too good to be true? I would love some feed back before i splash out.
June 15th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
we have a 19 acre small holding with free range black rocks and wish to increase our flock we were looking for between 100 to 600 birds they would all live a very long and happy life here some of our hens are between eight and ten years old and still give the occasional egg
June 23rd, 2010 at 12:15 pm
I am the manager of a residential home in hertfordshire, and we have have a chicken run built and were ready to buy our chickens when i saw you web site. We are only able to have 4 but i am sure we would rather provide a home to those who need it most.
If you have 4 hens that need a large loving family please let me know as soon as poss
Thank you tracey
June 24th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
24.6.2010
hi iam interested in getting 3-4 rescue chickens could anyone help as to where i can get them i live in the scottish borders
July 5th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
my daughter in law would like to rescue some chickens she lives in oxford and one helpshe got coop run and everything ready
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:43 pm
I would like to find out where I can get up to 10 hens. I have obtained permission to keep them on my allotment and am in the process of building a hen house and run.
July 28th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
I live in Antrim In Northern Ireland and have been looking to rehome ex-bats for quite a while now but to no avail. Contacted Philip at McClements Egg Company, he was not helpful and quite unpleasant and then went on to inform me that it was cruel to rehome battery hens by taking them out of their environment and that we should rehome free range hens instead! Very disappointed am still at a loss as what to do next, will try the farming life but I realy want to rehome ex-bats, any ideas anybody?