Urgent - Battery Hen Rescue

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Dolcé

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I hope this is in the right place. London Hen Rescue had a huge rescue planned for June, this has now had to be brought forward to next Tuesday. I have copied the post from Carly, the coordinator below as it lists all the collection points. If you can offer a good home to one or more of these gorgeous birds then please email Carly at:

carly@northlondonhenrescue.org.uk

We are the Harrogate collection point and are happy to care for the birds until Sunday (or a bit longer if needed) if you are not quite ready to take them. If you know anyone else that may be wanting some ex-batts please pass this information on to them.

Re the rescue from Lincolnshire previously posted.

I have just learnt from the farmer that instead of next month he has decided to turn out his hens next Wednesday, so if we are to bring out any hens we have to do so on TUESDAY next week. This is a month ahead of plan, so I know that this will mean we lose a lot of our rescuers. BUT DON'T STOP READING!

We are still trying to maximise our rescue by:

- having a number of co-ordination/collection centres in London, Spalding, Hampshire (to be confirmed), Bishops Stortford and Harrogate , for collection of hens on Tuesday
- Keeping some hens overnight or longer to allow later collection, maybe up till next weekend
- Helping deliver hens to help people without transport.

If you are able to rehome birds at such short notice, PLEASE fill in the questions below and email to me at carly@northlondonhenrescue.org.uk, even if you've already posted to me - the extra information will allow me to do the background logistics, fit everything together and rescue as many as possible, now or later. (I’ll also be sending a version of this by email to everyone who’s expressed an interest so far – please fill it in either way, but only once, or I’ll think you’re two people….)

1. Numbers

How many hens are you looking to rehome? (now or later this summer)? <number: >

Would you be able to take them next week, or would you rather go for July or September?

2. Transport

- Would you be able to drive to collect your hens from the nearest collection point to you <yes/no/ up to maximum miles…. >

- Would you want to collect from London / Harrogate / Bishops Stortford / Spalding / Hampshire?

- would you be able to do a modest detour to drop off hens to other rehomers on your way back <yes/no>

- would you need someone to bring hens to my address / closer to you?

- would you be willing for your phone number to be given to someone else who might liaise with you about transport?

3. Availability

If you are able to take hens from the rescue next week, would you be able to collect on tuesday afternoon / evening ?

Or not till later in week (before Sunday 1 June )

4. Your details

(just give one person's details now - if you are collecting hens for anyone else, please bring this information with you on the day)

Firstname Surname

Address

Email

HomePhone

Mobile



Many thanks everybody!
 
I don't understand what's happening?
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The very best of luck anyway. If I was nearer to London I would have rehomed half a dozen.
 
From what has happened in the past I would guess that the farmer is "releasing" his hens, meaning getting rid of them before the new batch come in.

If you want hens and are between Harrogate and Hampshire now is your chance to get probably one year old laying hens free or v cheap. We have had birds like this over the past 20 years and they are very productive and also rewarding as they change from being "battery" birds to being "real" birds. They will live for between 3 and 7 years after you get them.

If anyone is in the North Cambs area (or can collect from there) I will commit to collecting some for you and keeping them until you can get them from me.
 
If anyone else in the North Cambs/South Lincs/NW Norfolk wants any I'm going to fetch some on Tuesday as well and could keep them in North Cambs to be collected at your convenience (or delivered by agreement).
 
Yes, I've been phoned by "Graham" but the promised email with the collection details hasn't come through. If you like I could pick up an extra three for you and take them to EEC at the weekend. I've got a big enough crate they could spend the day in and just go in a box for travelling back with you.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Yes, I've been phoned by "Graham" but the promised email with the collection details hasn't come through. If you like I could pick up an extra three for you and take them to EEC at the weekend. I've got a big enough crate they could spend the day in and just go in a box for travelling back with you.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to be in Stortford on Tues and Wed this week anyway so it should be easy enough to collect them, if I can make contact.
 
Bank End and Thistle, I've just PM'd you a contact number for the co-ordinator. Hope that helps.



Southern people. If you want 10 - 15 hens transport can be arranged to Poole - any interest PM me and I'll send the contact number!

Anyone who isn't sorted for hens at the moment but would like some later, there will be another load needing homes in July apparently.
 
That's good to hear re July. I soooo much wanted some this time, but I'd prefer to have time to get organised & work out where to make an area for them in the field & sort out a henhouse for overnight etc.
 
Well it all ended up slightly chaotic. I had people I've never heard of ringing me to pick up hens that I didn't have and hadn't been told about and the 72 extra hens were supposed to arrive, no cancel that, well actually can we bring them after all . . . . so we got the shed ready and waited up for hours but they didn't arrive.

1401 out of 7000 have been / are being rehomed so that's good news for them and well done to the rescue team who worked their socks off in not very pleasant conditions.

As I've ended up giving my six hens to someone else who'd been promised them I'll be hoping to get more in July.

It is rewarding, the birds I brought back were lucky that they went from their cages straight into travelling cages that were far more spacious, so they began to realise they could stand up and stretch their necks on the journey back to mine. When released into their spacious shed they just stood where they were and then began to realise that they could stretch their wings and flap. After a couple of hours they realised they could walk round freely and had begun to look at pecking things. After about five hours one had realised that dust baths are great, several had begun to decide the pecking order and were fighting and others were just beginning to learn to scratch. They'd all found the water and the food.

Today they appear fairly normal, there will be squabbles for several days yet, their combs are beginning to change from pale pink to a deeper red and there is a lot of feather-growing to do! I'll be taking them over to their new homes tomorrow and they will begin the process of getting them accustomed to being free-range birds, but at least where they are now they can stretch and flap and walk and run and have daylight.
 
my 10 are all fine, already started 'talking' a bit, scratching around in the soil, etc. even got 1 egg overnight, that's amazing after all that trauma. they even knew to go to bed when it got dark, still some remnant of instinct in there.
bless them, they were so hot in their cardboard boxes when i picked them up, i drove the whole way home with the car's aircon on full, it was like the arctic in there...!
their floppy pale pink combs are really funny, two have them hanging down over their eyes like a bonnet. my other hens (freerange from chicks) have tiny bright-red combs, totally different.
my cockerel has been eyeing up the new ladies and isn't too pleased that he can't get at them for a few weeks at least...
 
I collected my 3 last night, from Stortford. I thought they were in reasonable condition, not too scraggy and quite well feathered and very plump. I put them in the house with th eothers when it was dark, having first deloused htem. This morning the original hens are outsdie scrathching but the ex bats won't come out into the scary world
 
Jemima_too, I'm so glad that you used proper crates! We lost one that had suffocated on the journey up and had several others that we thought wouldn't recover but have rallied and are now learning to be normal hens. We had on poor girl with a prolapse but luckily the vet managed to sort it for her and shes laid a lovely little egg this morning and all her bits are still in place!

We ended up having to go to doncaster to collect ours. We were supposed to be a collection point but it was all moved round to get the contingent to Scotland. I was a little shocked at the boxes that were used, lack of airflow, space etc. but I guess they did what had to be done at very short notice. One box had collapsed after only being taped at the bottom with one strand of tape, they were the hens we thought we would lose. I hope there were no more casualties like this one.

We had 11 lovely eggs this morning plus a couple with soft shells. They are all quite happy jumping in and out of their nest boxes and onto hay bales. All are enjoying having a good scratch in the deep litter of the foaling box, including one which had a dust bath last night bless it!
 
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