Chicken Rescue
On Saturday we added three new members to our urban farm – Jean, Hazel and Nola. Our feathered friends were rescued from a battery farm just before they would have been sent to slaughter. If you have not already been shocked by programs like Jamie Oliver’s Fowl Dinners about the factory production of chickens then hopefully some information here might convert you. The battery farm we got our hens from sends 10,000 birds to slaughter ever 3 months and unfortunately only 100 were rescued in our batch (approx 1%).
The hens were only 14 months old and because of the intensive way they are raised their egg production has slowed down – chickens are meant to have an average life expectancy of 10 to 12 years. The hens came to us in terrible condition. They were frightened and missing a lot of feathers and their combs were drooping and enlarged from the heat. It is our understanding that the hens were kept in 27 degree temperature and we expect, because they are laying at odd times, that they were kept in extended hours of light (like spending your life in a casino). The first two days we had them they hardly moved; they didn’t seem to know how to walk properly and they kept pecking at wood and wire (a hangover from the cages).
We have been told that with a good diet and some space to range our hens will return to full health and start laying again. We have already received 3 eggs!
We got our hens from a lovely lady called Monique. To date she has saved over 500 hens. If you are interested in getting some hens of your own please at homesforhens at hotmail dot com. If you can’t have chickens then please think about where your chicken and eggs come from. Question your supermarket and farmers market providers and read the ingredients on the packages. Unfortunately there are a lot of hidden eggs in prepared food products (for example mayonnaise and bakery goods) and these typically contain battery eggs. Even supermarket free-range eggs are typically from massive scale farms with hens packed in like sardines. We recommend that you buy direct from a local farmer who you can ask about (or even see) how they raise the chickens, or find a neighbour who will supply you with happy eggs. Moving more egg production into our neighbourhoods will help reduce our reliance on unsustainable and inhumane farming practices.
We’d like to say a big thank you to all of our friends who contributed to the cost of our chicken coop as a wedding present, as well as to those who helped us build it (and more on that in an upcoming post)!
We will keep you posted on our ladies’ progress.
Awesome job guys. While I have really wanted some chickens for a while my darling wife refuses to entertain the idea.
I always purchase free range eggs and more often than not from a local farm in the Wwan Valley.
My brother has also been raising 3 chicks for a few months now and are expecting them to start laying very soon so with a bit of luck I will betting some eggs coming my way from his direction.
April 20th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Thanks, Tez. And good on ya.
April 21st, 2010 at 8:36 am
We have been thinking about getting some hens too. At the Davis farmer’s market you can buy them domesticated and they make great pets, they are not afraid of humans and like to be groomed and touched. I’m sure Nachito would love them.
I’m a bit worried about my neighbors, though, and I think we have to get a city license to have them. Do they produce any noise? How much maintenance do they need?
April 21st, 2010 at 9:18 am
The three we have don’t make much noise at all. They make a quiet, hoarse, throaty noise sometimes (mostly evening), and they cluck when you pick them up, but other than that they are quiet. On our size block (600 sq. m.), we are allowed up to 6 chickens. Roosters are illegal in the city here, and for good reason.
Maintenance: you have to feed and water them (easy), and scoop a few poops out of the litter once a day, and probably change the litter (we use straw) every week or so. The one thing you might not like is getting up early to let them out of the coop if you need to do that. When it’s warm, ours will have an open door into a wired-in run so we won’t have to do that. When it’s cold we’ll need to cover it up at night. However I have seen plans for building automatic opener/closers based on light timers and motorized curtain pullers — might have to build one of those.
April 21st, 2010 at 9:30 am
Oh, and you have to collect the eggs!
April 21st, 2010 at 9:30 am
Hey, according to this handy site:
http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/chickenlaws.html
Davis, CA. A total of not more than six chicken hens and you have to keep them penned no less than 40 ft. from neighboring houses.
And here’s the official code for poultry *farms* in Davis:
http://cityofdavis.org/cmo/citycode/detail.cfm?p=40&q=1931, which seems to say 6 or fewer chickens is fine. I can’t find the above mentioned 40 ft. for 6 or fewer chickens.
April 21st, 2010 at 9:36 am
we buy free range eggs from farmers markets, or get them from family and friends.
I love their names.I reackon Nola will be good at laying eggs….:)
Well done for saving them, shall watch them progress under your tender care.
Love the chook house, like the idea of doors opening on sun timers..
April 21st, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Thanks for the info Mark! Incidentally this weekend there’s a tour to the community coops being organized by Davis Farm to School Connection, and I guess that’s probably the best place to learn about the local hen laws.
April 21st, 2010 at 6:44 pm
These are great guys! Hope Nola behaves herself! but be rest assured she’ll give you lots of love!! I love the names!
April 22nd, 2010 at 5:23 am
Good on Ya’s… There is a lady down the road from Uni (Lincoln, Canterbury, NZ) that has rescued about 50 or so of pre caged chickens… I get a dozen eggs off her sometimes for 5 bucks… They looked in same condition as your chicks when I first went there, as she had just got them.. They now are doing great… they have a massive paddock, and huge free range coop… Great stuff!!! Enjoy the eggs…. and the ladies antics…
April 22nd, 2010 at 1:42 pm