Lifestyle- Meet the Chickens

We've had our 4 lovely chickens for a little over a year now. These rescue hens were adopted through the British Hen Welfare Trust, a charity that re-homes thousands of ex-battery hens every year in the UK. When battery hens reach the age of 18 months old they are usually slaughtered because they are no longer deemed profitable. Chickens generally live for about 8-9 years though some reach the grand old age of 10-11, so the fact that they are killed at 18 months is pretty horrifying. But what's even more horrifying is the way they are treated on the farms.

When they first came home they looked like this-

Pretty awful right? Many chickens in the Egg Production Industry are either 'Barn' or 'Enriched Cage' hens and as you can see from the photo the conditions they are kept in are far from healthy. The only thing that will improve welfare standards for industry hens is constant pressure from consumers to force both supermarkets and their suppliers to change their ways for the better.

These four hens are now in a much better place, both literally and metaphorically. They've grown back their feathers, their beaks are no longer crooked, their combs are bright red and their claws are short and sharp. They get to go outside every day in the fresh air and love to eat slugs and dandelion leaves. They also have awesome names- Margo, Edith, Ages and Gru!

Sadly though many hundreds of thousands of chickens are still being kept in terrible and inhumane conditions before their lives are ended prematurely. Please help make life better for chickens by checking how your eggs are produced and only supporting farms with free range hens.