We got our hens on the 26th of march from the battery hen welfare trust.
Caged hens also known as battery hens are kept in very small cages usually with five other hens for about one and a half- two years, after that time their laying cycle slows down and they become uneconomical for the farm so he sells them to an abottoir where they are killed and put into pies,soups dog food ect, things where the meat doesnt have to be quality because at that age and poor conditions their meat is very tough.
Just before they are sold off the battery hen welfare trust buys some hens from the farmer for rehoming. So that these poor hens can have a chance at a nice natural life. You might be wondering now, why do they need rescuing, is caged life so bad? In all honestly yes they really are, the hen only has about an A4 size sheet of paper to live out her life, they only have one type of food which they have to fight with the other hens to get otherwise they starve (our girls both have substantial feather damage, one have a bare chest where feathers have been continually pecked and pulled at) and they have to stand on a sloping metal wire floor. So they are unable to move around, stretch, groom, dig any natural behaviour and they have no stimulation. There are many a hen who just give up.
Its so tragic. I have kept three hens now for nearly three years and they are such funny creatures each with their own personalities. They love living out their natural behaviours such as dust baths, and sratching in the soil looking for bugs, I think its terrible how these intensively farmed birds are treated, they are intelligent and bright creatures and if this type of cruelty was done to other animals there would be such an outcry. But like most terrible things its out of sight so a lot of people don't know the extent of the poor conditions their eggs come from.
For more information on rescuing battery hens visit www.bhwt.org.uk