Sue Bagley, battery hen rescuer
My first flock of hens were four ex-battery hens from the British Hen Welfare Trust. When I received them they were tiny, nervous, and completely bald. I housed them in my garden; a suitable environment, where they could roam freely and use their natural behaviours, like perching and foraging. They thrived. And now, when I open the back door into my garden they hear it, and come running towards me fully-feathered and plump.
At first sight, a flock of hens mostly all look the same. People tend to forget that they're little individuals, with a heart, and a brain just like us. Consumers don't realise what they're buying into when they go to supermarkets, because everything on the shelves is anonymous. I don't judge or blame farmers for doing what they do; they're just meeting consumer demands. And those are the people we need to be educating.
Laying hens live in all kinds of conditions, some better than others. Farm shops give them a free-range life, but at the end of their productive laying life, they're going into the food chain. They're brought to farms when they're still young – only four months old – that's when they start laying prolifically.
Hen's bodies work in rhythm with natural daylight, so they tend to lay more in the summer. Their bodies need to be able to recover, if not their bones get depleted of calcium and they get problems with their ovaries. Many get painful tumours because they're laying so much.
Farmers send the older hens off to slaughter and replace them when they produce fewer eggs. At Wing and a Prayer, our aim is to change their destiny. We rely on volunteers to carry out the rescues. We aren't all vegan and we don't judge anybody for their choices; our only aim is to re-home ex-battery hens before they're sent to slaughter.
I collect hens from massive flocks of around 2000 to 10,000. It's stressful, physically demanding and exhausting. Most are fragile and pathetic-looking. But, at the end of the day, it feels extremely worthwhile when I hand over a little hen to a new home, knowing that it will be loved and cared for.
When I see large flocks, it's difficult because I know I need to go into professional mode. The job needs to be done. Though most of the time, lots of hens will be left behind. It's very upsetting. It's horrible knowing some are still there and that they won't be rescued.
It's a shame because they make great pets: they're easy to look after and they still lay eggs. Free range eggs don't compare to those produced by caged hens. A mixed diet and a normal life, able to roam as they please mean they're healthier. The eggs look bigger and their yolks are a darker yellow-orange.
As the charity grows, we're able to invest more money into rescuing hens. We have four trustees and 25 volunteers so that's quite a lot of rescues. Every penny donated is put towards rescuing more commercial laying hens and securing them a retirement home. We get more hens each time, some people think we have premises but it's all volunteers using space in their gardens, so we're always looking for volunteers to cover more places.
Visit wingandaprayerhenrescue.scot
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